Locked Crimsons
by AlterEthereal
Summary: [SasuNaru] There's something amiss in Konoha, and Naruto is determined to find out what's going on even if it means dealing with a less-than-sane Sasuke.
1. The Source of Abnormality

**Author's note:. **Hello, unsuspecting readers, and welcome to my fanfic! The big hunk of words you may glimpse down there was originally the byproduct of a bad case of holiday fever, but was readily replaced by something of even less value: a plot! Yes, it is no longer the senseless fluff that reigns fandom, but it shall not be forever so! I give my word that there will be plenty of bellybutton-clogging material in the future. That is all.

(edited 1x)

**Summary:.** There's something amiss in Konoha, and Naruto is determined to find out what's going on even if it means dealing with a less-than-sane Sasuke.

**Pairings:.** SasuNaru/NaruSasu/SaNa/NaSa/WhoCares

**Warnings:.** Swearing, shounen-ai/yaoi (later), het, randomness, possibly adult situations, and some very slow updating, to say the least.

**Disclaimer:.** When I looked in the mirror this morning, I was not Masashi Kishimoto, and I don't think that fact has changed since then.

**Locked Crimsons**

Unit one:** The Source of Abnormality **

The grounds of Konoha were dressed in white, snow littering the top of every building from Ichiraku to the hospital. The usual bustling activity of the village seemed almost lethargic as the cold seeped in through the fractures in clothes and walls. The sky was a pleasant shade of gray, the clouds not heavy enough to form precipitation again quite yet, but promising another snowstorm sometime soon.

A boy walked patiently through the slush, trying hard to focus on his errand instead of how thin his coat was. Every once in a while, he'd look up to the clouds to see if they'd moved in the past few minutes, but alas, they seemed to go at the speed of cold molasses.

It was too bad, really. It was so cold that he actually wished the sun would come out, if only to warm him up a little. Suddenly, a new distraction made its way to his ears.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

The chuunin paused at the sound of his friend's voice, though not turning around. That would've been trivial and bothersome, as he already knew Naruto was headed his way and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Not that he particularly _minded_ the energetic boy's companyhe just didn't want to be out in the cold any longer than absolutely necessary.

A figure in a familiar orange jacket abruptly came to rest at his side. "Hey, Shikamaru! Long time no see!"

"Hey Naruto," the lazy boy nodded in greeting. "What's going on?"

The blonde shrugged noncommittally. "Nothing much, really. I just wanted to give you something. Are you in a hurry?" Not that Shikamaru was ever in a hurry, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

"No, I'm just on my way to the store for more eggnog. My father and mother are entertaining guests."

"Oh," the blue-eyed boy dropped his gaze for a moment before stuffing a hand in his pocket and digging a bit. Grinning widely upon finding what he was looking for, he pulled out a small, white envelope and held it out to the lazy boy. "Well, here you go. I hope you can come, Sakura-chan is helping me decorate and everything!"

Shikamaru smiled slightly and accepted what he supposed must be an invitation of some sort, eyeing it carefully within his gloved hands. This was the first time he'd gotten an invite of any kind from his friend. "Thanks, Naruto. I'll see what I can do."

The blonde's face seemed to light up even more. "Really? Thanks! I mean, you're welcome!" He laughed a little then, and turned to face the direction he'd come in. "I'll see you around, Shikamaru!"

"See ya," the brunette replied, watching as the blonde ran off to his next destination, wherever that was. Taking a last, hasty glance at the envelope in his hand, Shikamaru thrust it into his pocket and continued on his way, shivering just a little. "Damn, it's cold."

* * *

"Naruto's throwing a Christmas party," Sasuke affirmed what he'd just heard before asking his question. "So what?"

Shikamaru sighed; talking to the Uchiha was so troublesome sometimes. "I was just wondering if you knew why the invitation said Iruka-sensei's house instead of Naruto's."

The dark-haired shinobi shrugged, a bit irritated that anyone would come to him of all people for information on the blonde. They hadn't been on great terms since he'd been brought back from... the darkness, or whatever. "How should I know? I didn't even get one."

"You didn't, eh?" This surprised Shikamaru a bit, but he did his best to remain as inoffensive as possible, considering how volatile Sasuke had been lately. After all, if talking to him _now_ was troublesome, talking to him when he was angry was ten times worse. "Well, thanks anyway. I'll talk to you later, I guess."

A faint nod was given in return to the farewell, and then both went their separate directions: one back into the snow and the other back inside his house. Sasuke slipped his shoes back off and left them neatly by the door before resuming his seat in front of the fireplace. It was the first time a flame had burned there in ages. The wood was so decrepit and unusable that he'd had to go out and get more just to light it. It was worth the trouble, though.

The soft glow surrounded him in the darkness, whereas everything outside the dim orb of light was near pitch black, the only thing preventing total obscurity being the small lamp that rested a few feet away from where Sasuke sat.

The firelight danced and reflected off his obsidian eyes, playing tricks with the refraction and relying on the unmoving gaze of its subject in order for the game to stay steady. And every once in a while, the light would move just right across the glazed surface of his eyes to stain them a fierce red, a mock Sharingan.

Sasuke had tried his hardest to avoid using his bloodline limit whenever possible since he'd returned to Konoha. He never said why.

There were a lot of things he never said:

Why he'd gone in the first place.

Why he hadn't at least tried to come back.

Why he was found half-dead a mile or so outside Hidden Sound on a clear, sunny morning about two and a half years later.

He remembered the day vividly, though he was barely conscious at the time. A flash of yellow and blue. A blur of white. He remembered hearing the yelling and the laughing, then the gasps of surprise as they relayed to each other how they'd barely even noticed the presence it was so weak. He remembered the gentle arms that lifted him from the ground and how he'd wanted so desperately to beat them away, yell, scream, fight... but didn't have the energy.

He had found out later that Naruto and that old pervert Jiraiya had been on their way back to Konoha after a long training trip. They'd figured to make a quick pass by Sound to see if anything suspicious was going on, and had come across him, bloody, emaciated, and overall barely alive.

It had taken him a couple of months to "fully" recover, clinically, that is. Emotionally, he couldn't say he was any better off than he had been when he was found. When he was rescued.

Rescued.

Naruto said once that one day he would be the one to rescue Sasuke instead of the other way around, didn't he? Well, he'd officially achieved that goal. The Uchiha spent the next six months watching him achieve other ones.

Naruto had real friends, now.

Naruto had been recently promoted to chuunin level.

Naruto had a family, mostly consisting of a powerful, blonde hag, an emotional schoolteacher, a perverted old geezer, and an idiotic, but wise jounin sensei.

There was a time when he was considered a part of that family. Naruto had asked if what he felt when he was around Sasuke was what if felt like to have a brother. Not that the Uchiha could truly answer. He'd forgotten a long time ago what it really felt like to have a brother.

Itachi...

Uchiha Itachi was still out there, or at least he hoped. And for two main reasons:

One: It was his job to kill the wretched bastard, to avenge the souls of his massacred family.

Two: The only other person after his brother that was perhaps actually strong enough to defeat him would _not_ use the power he acquired for the forces of good.

He really should tell the Hokage, but it wasn't like he wanted to remember all that anyway.

The once raging flames were slowly dying down, leaving the wide room dimly lit and much colder.

Without waiting for the last embers to go out, the somber boy rose from his place. He flicked out the lamp and made his way to the stairs, more than ready to go to bed, even if it would just result in tossing and turning and nightmares that he couldn't remember in the morning.

"So, Naruto's having a Christmas party..." He mumbled vaguely to himself as he ascended.

* * *

An unruly mop of yellow flopped onto the pillow reserved solely for it. The body attached to it was still in the clothing it put on itself in the morning, and the face half covered by threads of blonde seemed to be smiling incoherently at nothing in general.

"I can't believe it," the boy mumbled to himself through his grin, "I'm gonna have a real party, with people and food and smiling and laughing..."

Naruto sighed to himself, tiredly. After training a bit in the morning, he'd spent the rest of the day running practically all over Konoha, tracking people down to give them invitations to his special party personally. Surprisingly enough, he'd gotten to nearly everyone.

A smooth-skinned hand rummaged around inside his pants pocket, searching for what he knew was there. He'd known it was there the entire day. How could he forget, when it had been plaguing him throughout most of it?

He pulled out the small envelope and held it over him, so as to look at it properly. It was clean, white, and crisp, with a small, wreath-shaped sticker in place to hold down the flap, since he hated licking that horrible glue. He noticed with displeasure that the tiny, green sticker was off-center just a bit. He never could do things 100 percent right.

Turning it over, he saw his own messy handwriting, though he'd tried to make it a bit neater for this occasion. Scrawled in the middle of the back side of the envelope were the words "Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto stared at the name, for a moment, almost as if he couldn't place it in his mind. No, he knew the name very well, just not the boy to whom it applied. He'd thought he knew him, but he'd made a mistake.

Uchiha Sasuke had been his best friend once. Sasuke himself had admitted it, just before nearly killing him.

Despite that, the words he said still rang and bounced around inside his head, even to that very day. He never gave up on the dark-eyed boy. Even as he had lain in the hospital, even as the haunting image of the spinning Sharingan had ghosted across his mind, he didn't give up. He swore he'd bring the Uchiha back.

It was ironic, in the end, just how he did. He hadn't even had to do anything, other than sling him gently over his shoulder and run. He'd actually been afraid, more than anything, that Sasuke was dead. Then again, he might as well have been. He knew better than anyone that even as physical wounds heal, psychological wounds can become infected and immutable.

He'd seen it within Sasuke, the moment the boy woke up and their eyes locked.

He chuckled a bit as he recalled how he'd woken the Uchiha, much to the dismay of Tsunade, who had demanded that Naruto not visit alone. He just couldn't help it; when he saw his rival lying there stupidly, he just had to go over there and bring him back to his senses.

'Stop shaking him!' He remembered the hag shouting at him. 'Do you want to worsen his condition, brat?'

But oh, how surprised she was when Sasuke grunted and his brows creased together. 'Finally!' he'd yelled in impatience, still not removing his hands from the patient's shoulders, just in case he needed another shake or two.

And that was when it had happened. Sasuke's long eyelashes had lifted, revealing tired, glazed eyes that looked wearily into Naruto's. The blonde remembered how it felt to look into those eyes, how his breath hitched in his throat at the hopelessness and despair he could see so plainly, so openly. And then recognition seemed to set in and Sasuke's visage began to harden into the expression his ex-rival remembered so well.

'Is he awake?' Tsunade had exclaimed as she violently shoved Naruto out of the way to examine the now conscious Uchiha.

Naruto had wondered then, as he wondered occasionally now whether Sasuke had been through something particularly terrible during the three years they'd been apart or if that hopelessness had been breeding hidden inside the boy since before they'd even met.

He never asked about it; the Sasuke he'd known in the past would have undoubtedly preferred to be left alone, regardless of how unhealthy it was to keep everything bottled up inside him. Or maybe Naruto was just terrified of what he'd dig up.

Perhaps that was why he hadn't attempted to get any closer to his former best friend since he'd found him. And perhaps that was why he still hesitated while holding the small, white envelope in his hand.

"But isn't it about time?" He asked himself quietly. "Isn't it about time we work this out? Give it a shot?" He sighed again.

He glanced at his alarm clock. 10:14. "I wonder if he's still up...?"

Naruto heaved his messy blonde head from the pillow once again and hopped off his bed. After one more weary look toward the envelope he held, he stuffed it back into his pocket and made for the door, hopefully for the last time that night.

* * *

Sasuke could not sleep. He'd been trying for over an hour, but still had gained no peace; he just kept lying in bed doing absolutely nothing. Often, he remembered, when he was part of Team 7 and couldn't sleep, he would go outside and train until he forcibly passed out. The first time he'd done it, he'd wound up sleeping outside, but after a week or so, he'd had it down so well that he could leave himself exactly enough time and energy to make it into the house, upstairs, and into his bed before he promptly fell unconscious.

He didn't feel like training right now. He hadn't really _felt_ like training for the past six months. He trained anyway, even if his "heart wasn't in it", because, hell, he couldn't let himself get rusty, and he still had that far off goal of killing his brother. He used to be so much more adamant about it, though... Now, after everything that happened, so much of his motivation, so much of his _energy_ felt like it was just stripped away, he wanted to just fall asleep and never wake up.

Could fate not even grant him a fraction of that?

Suddenly, a pounding resounded throughout the room. Origin: the front door.

At first, Sasuke thought he was merely imagining things, so he ignored it.

Then he heard that same pounding again. He wondered briefly if construction could be going on outside his home, but at this time of night? Not likely. Perhaps someone was at the door? No one ever came to visit him.

Well, Shikamaru had, earlier that day, to ask about Naruto's party.

He raised himself tiredly from his mattress, half-dragging the covers with him. He allowed them to drop to the floor as he descended the staircase. The clothes he'd worn that day still draped over his lean figure, contorting his shape in the darkness until he made his way to the front, flicking a light switch to ignite the whole, wide entrance.

Opening the door without a hint of hurry, he was soon face to face with blue eyes, tanned skin, and blonde hair.

"Naruto," he stated plainly, without conviction, annoyance, or really anything.

Naruto greeted the boy politely with a small grin. "Sasuke. It's been a while."

_Hm, isn't it amazing that this one boy is the source of nearly every abnormality of my life? People visit me because of him. Itachi appears because of him. I went to Orochimaru... inadvertently because of him, and to get right down to it, I'm alive because of him. Would it not be prudent of me to give due process to one with such influence?_

Sasuke dispelled his innate hesitance and opened the door a bit wider, a gesture for Naruto to enter.

* * *

tbc...

Well yeah. What odd ideas I get.

(edited 1x)


	2. Identification

**Author's Note:.** Hey hey, how's it going? Another chapter here, but I sort of rushed it in the prospect of getting up another chapter before Christmas break ends. So if it sucks... I dunno. Then it sucks.

**Summary:.** There's something amiss in Konoha, and Naruto is determined to find out what's going on even if it means dealing with a less-than-sane Sasuke.

**Pairings:.** SasuNaru/NaruSasu/SaNa/NaSa/WhoCares

**Warnings:.** Swearing, shounen-ai/yaoi (later), het, randomness, possibly adult situations, and some very slow updating, to say the least.

**Disclaimer:.** I don't own Naruto. Wow, what a surprise.

* * *

_Opening the door without a hint of hurry, he was soon face to face with blue eyes, tanned skin, and blonde hair._

_"Naruto," he stated plainly, without conviction, annoyance, or really anything._

_Naruto greeted the boy politely with a small grin. "Sasuke. It's been a while."

* * *

_

**Locked Crimsons**

Unit Two: **Identification**

"I'd just about given up. Did I wake you?" Naruto asked as a cup of hot tea was placed before him. He drank in the delicious scent and felt the warmth in his hands spread from his fingers and palms to his wrists through his skin and practically his blood all the way up to his elbows and eventually his shoulders. It was even colder outside now than it had been in the afternoon, and he was thankful that Sasuke had let him in. At the back of his mind, there was so much more he wanted to talk about than his party and he didn't want to converse on the doorstep all night.

The Uchiha sat himself down on the opposite side of the table, nursing his own cup of warm liquid. "No, not really."

He didn't particularly want Naruto to know that he had trouble sleeping, though it occurred to him that he must've had some suspicion to visit at all, considering it washe glanced at a nearby clockclose to 11 o'clock. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, I wanted to talk to you... about something..s..." Naruto mumbled, casting his eyes toward his tea uncertainly.

_Maybe it would be better to get it over with quickly, just come right out into the conversation. He probably doesn't want me here long, anyway._

Looking up at the dark-eyed shinobi with at least a minor amount of resolve in his countenance, Naruto began. "I was thinking earlier, about you. Are we still rivals, Sasuke?" The chuunin paused, waiting for an answer. All he was rewarded by, however, was a blank stare from the other boy, so he took it as incentive to continue. "I mean, I want to train and fight with you and stuff, like the way we used to, but..." He paused again, trying vainly to think of the right words to use. He took a sip of tea, hoping it would lead him to a conclusion amongst the mass of surging thoughts in his head, but alas, he came to nothing.

Sasuke took another sip of his tea, as well, thinking about Naruto's question. Were they still rivals? To be honest, he hadn't thought about it very much since he'd come back. His mind had been constantly plagued by haunting memories, blind ambitions, and thoughts of hopeless futures.

"Agh!" Naruto suddenly yelled, throwing his hands up in anguish. "Why is it that the second I get to talk to this bastard I can't put into words what I want to say!" he mumbled tersely to himself. Bringing his flushed face up to look at the other boy, he was surprised to see him still staring right through him.

_And why isn't he saying anything? I just called him a bastard, even if it was kind of an accident! This stuff used to set both of us off like rockets when we were younger!_

"Something wrong, Sasuke? I mean, other than the usual?" Naruto knew it was fairly ordinary for the guy to be quiet, but he'd never seen him so unfeeling. It was almost like he was... soulless.

"Hn..." was the only response the blond was greeted with.

Sasuke himself barely heard the questions anymore. The words seemed to enter his ears but go right out the other side. Like how an anesthetic works: one feels the pain, just doesn't care. His thoughts were flitty, never really sticking to anything. He tried to focus on Naruto, but found that he couldn't, like there was no substance for him to cling to. He felt no energy, as if he were numb. He felt empty.

Naruto, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly irritated with the raven-haired shinobi on the other side of the table. He'd been sitting there staring into the distance for over 2 minutes, not speaking or listening or anything, really. At first, he figured Sasuke was just gathering up his words, getting ready to explain something. After a while of silence, however, when the boy still hadn't made a sound, he reasoned that maybe the Uchiha just didn't want to talk about it. So, attempting to maintain his patience, which, though improved greatly by Jiraiya's training, was still very thin, he tried to open a different topic.

"Um... okay," he started again, fishing for and pulling out the invitation to his Christmas party and holding it out, "Anyway, the reason I came over here was to give this to you. It's an invitation... I thought maybe if you had nothing else to do, you might want to come to a Christmas party."

Sasuke made no move to accept the invite. He could've just been a stone statue and Naruto wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. In fact, he was beginning to expect a pigeon to suddenly swoop down and land on the stiff boy's head. Unfortunately for the comically inclined boy, though, no such thing happened.

Naruto set the envelope onto the table between them, but still, there was no reaction.

"Sasuke?" Nothing.

Naruto's patience wearing thin, he tried waving his hand in front of the boy's face to get a reaction. Nothing.

He rose partially from the table and made his way to the other side, putting his hands to Sasuke's shoulders and shaking lightly. Nothing.

"Sasuke! Hey, Earth to Sasuke, come in!" He started shaking harder, getting beyond worried for his former best friend. He tried to find his eyes, but found only clouded over orbs of black, without any sort of recognition present in them. Those _weren't _Sasuke's eyes. About at the end of his rope, Naruto raised a fist and struck out, achieving a clean hit to the other boy's cheek and sending said boy a short way in the direction of the hit.

Registering the pain and the jolt, Sasuke was suddenly jerked back into reality. Not that he was upset, really; in fact, he was quite grateful. If Naruto could do that for him, drag him out of that abysmal despair...

Remembrances of when his rival would bring him away from thoughts of his family, of being an avenger, of everything but his energy and the insults and the punches and the life of a Konoha genin filled his mind, along with perhaps the slight prickling of hope that Naruto could bring him out of this, as well. He _must_ be able to.

He was being shaken again, still quite violently. "Naruto..."

His back was thrust against the floor and his shoulders were grasped by tanned palms, giving him a perfect view right into the blonde's face. Naruto was gritting his teeth slightly, stretching the whisker-like scars on his cheeks. His brow was contorted with worry, and his eyes were filled with both frustration and concern.

_He's concerned for me? After all this time and everything that's happened? What an idiot..._ But the thought made him smile inwardly, and he found himself glad that Naruto's emotions were still present on his face as much as they were when they were younger. He didn't hide them or feel insecure. It was because he was the strongest that he was able to stay that way.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Uchiha?" Naruto practically yelled.

_Uchiha...? _And then, suddenly, something snapped, and Sasuke felt himself black out.

"Don't call me that..." came a thin whisper.

"Huh?" Naruto let his grip on Sasuke's shoulders loosen. He'd thought he heard the older boy say something, but couldn't discern what it was. Hopefully, the bastard was coming out of his stupor and would tell him what was going on. He wished for a moment that he could see into Sasuke's eyes for clarity - though slightly afraid that the blank, amnesic look he'd been receiving would still be there - but they were closed now. So he took in the rest of the dark-haired boy's expression:

Overall, he looked... _angry_.

"Don't you ever call me that!" Sasuke growled, the only warning Naruto was given before a great deal of pain lodged itself in his stomach and he was thrown off. Their positions were suddenly switched, the larger boy pinning the smaller to the floor.

_Sasuke's knee... well that would explain the pain... but why the crazy mood swing all of the sudden? Sasuke must be PMSing or something... _Not wanting to actually hurt the boy whom he hoped was still at least his rival, he allowed himself to stay down, at least until his captor explained himself. "What do you mean, 'don't call me that'? It's your name, idiot!"

The pair of onyx eyes above him narrowed dangerously. "Naruto," Sasuke stated, still growling, but with a faint hint of... surprise? "What are you doing here?"

If he weren't currently pinned to the floor by an apparently very pissed Uchiha, Naruto would have sweatdropped at the obvious ridiculousness of that question. "What the... ?" He mumbled in vague disbelief before yelling in reply, "You let me in yourself!"

"Why would I have let you in? You're not wanted here." Sasuke's hands pressed more firmly into Naruto's shoulders, causing a fair amount of pain, but nothing the blonde couldn't handle.

"Not wanted?" Naruto spat disbelievingly. Those words hurt far more than Sasuke's hands on his shoulders. In fact, they _stung_. "Well you could've just said that before you offered tea, bastard!" Could Sasuke have... forgotten? There was something very wrong with this situation...

"I never did any of that! How the hell did you get in? And what do you want?" The Uchiha's voice held a twinge of panic, which confused the heck out of the blue-eyed chuunin. They had been sitting peacefully across from each other one minute, and Sasuke started spacing out the next. And then suddenly, this?

In any case, Naruto's irritation level was rapidly rising. "Do you have amnesia or something? You're not making any sense, Uchiha!"

"_Don't call me that!_" The blond's shoulders were heaved up and thrown back down, with a lot more force than he cared to acknowledge, even as his head came heavily in contact with the floor beneath. "_You're_ the one not making any sense!"

"Uchiha is your _name_! Uchiha Sasuke!" Naruto boldly defied the throb of his head that accompanied the yell, as well as the boy above him. He glared honestly and angrily into Sasuke's rage-filled eyes, which were miraculously still without the crimson of the Sharingan.

The panic in the pale boy's voice now escalated into a quality that seemed somewhere between suppressed fury and desperation, his entire frame starting to tremble. "You're wrong! You're always wrong! You idiot, can't you see? I stopped being an Uchiha a long time ago!"

At first, the smaller boy was offended at the obvious insult within the other's previous set of words, but after a long moment, the rest of Sasuke's short tirade began to stick a meaning inside his brain. Before letting himself become even angrier and subjecting both himself and his former best friend to the possible consequences, however, he allowed himself to make use of a calming chakra exercise that Jiraiya had taught him during the first year of their training together.

_Breathe in..._

Naruto slowly, fluently brought most of his chakra to his upper chest, holding it in place for a few moments before exhaling, closing his eyes as he focused on relaxing.

_Breathe out..._

After shifting flow from his chest to his legs and feet for a second or two and then letting it redisperse itself throughout his body, he opened his now composed, clear blue eyes and stared much more calmly up to the still-shaking Sasuke.

"You can never stop being who you are, Sasuke, believe me. Don't you think it's occurred to me to try?"

Naruto watched with solemn satisfaction as the Uchiha's quivering abruptly subsided, the pitch-black eyes widening for a brief instant before returning to the normal and surprisingly refreshing 'apathetic disdain' that the blond was familiar with. The pressure on his back and legs slowly dissipated as Sasuke rose, freeing him from his position on the floor. Getting himself up, he watched as the dark-haired boy turned back to face the table, away from him.

"Leave, Uzumaki," came the cold command.

Knowing he'd outstayed his welcome (if there ever was one, considering some of his gracious host's words), Naruto wisely obeyed. As he reached the hall closet, where he remembered seeing Sasuke hang the coat he came with, he wondered what sort of farewell the situation warranted.

Was this the end of their lopsided friendship and rivalry?

Would they never see each other again?

Or... were they enemies now, destined to fight?

Naruto smirked to himself. Nope, there was no way that boy was getting let off the hook that easily. They would definitely meet up again in the near future, whether Sasuke liked it or not. And next time, he promised himself, he'd find out what was the matter with the grouchy jerk.

Slipping his shoes onto his feet, Naruto made his way to the front door and gripped the smooth, bronze handle. "See you around, Sasuke-bastard."

* * *

The moon was a high crescent, but even so, bared enough light to mist the trees and villages over in a thin shade of bluish-gray. The air was dry and cold, the perfect, untrodden snow beyond the Valley of the End glistening atop fir trees whose tips seemed to point all in the direction of the clear heavens. Hidden deep within the otherwise silent forest, whispers wracked the night.

"Where was the target last trailed?" asked a sweet, yet slimy voice, the speaker obscured by the darkness of a cave's walls.

"We believe he still remains either around or within Konohagakure, sir."

"Excellent," the pleased tone with which the simple word was spoken seemed to make the entire forest shudder in fear. "Now is the time to make our move."

"Yes, sir." Following the distinct rustle of clothing that signified a low bow, footsteps began, traveling toward the innermost workings of the cave until only a faint echo could be heard. One figure, however, still stood at the mouth of the cave, barely shrouded from the ever-rising moon.

"You can run, Uchiha, but you can't hide."

* * *

tbc!

(edited 1x)


	3. The Company Dime

**Author's Note:** Ah... I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter! The standard excuses apply: busy, stressed, uncertain, etc. This stupid chapter had to be rewritten 3 or 4 times, for the sole reason that I could never seem to get it right. It would either be too fast, too slow, too irrelevant, or just not at all in the direction that I want the fic to go... Anyway, I did eventually get out a chapter that I could live with and possibly even like. So let's repond to some reviews! (for both ch. 1 and 2)

**eyes0nme19: **Thanks, I'm glad you find it interesting so far!

**me: **Your reviews absolutely made my day! TwT I'm always so paranoid about the quality of the writing, it's terrific to know you like it! And yeah, I've seen _way_ too many fics with that whole "oh my gawd Naruto I missed you I love you" thing going on... -_exasperated sigh_-

**Yit-Ha:** I'm happy you like the story so far! And you're right, but shhh Naruto-chan doesn't know that yet.

**rubie:** Your analysis is pretty well correct, sans the jutsu thing. But Sasuke's definitely mentally unstable. And I can tell you already that he'll drive our poor little blonde protagonist in many more circles before they _do_ find each others' boundaries. -_cackles madly_-

Thank you all for your terrific reviews! You really help keep the story going.

**Disclaimer and everything else:** See the first two chapters, because I'm not going to bother stating all that stuff again. :P

_I watched it all come crashing down  
__On the verge of a world profound  
__Standing on unstable ground  
__Adding insult to irony  
__I think it's really gonna happen this time  
__All our calls are on the company dime  
__Reluctance ties up the line  
__With irresponsibility...  
__I'm still waiting for you to get over this_

The Company Dime  
The Get Up Kids

**Locked Crimsons**

Unit three: **The Company Dime**

After leaving the Uchiha residence, Naruto felt considerably more wing-clipped and considerably less clear-headed. Despite his own assurances, he couldn't help but be a bit worried for the wayward Uchiha. And what was worse was the feeling of helplessness swelling inside his chest.

_I might not be the brightest kid around, but even I can tell that there's something abnormal about the Sasuke I met with tonight..._

Helplessness was one of the worst things for Naruto - really any shinobi - to feel. In the blond's case, however, the dread was amplified by his previous dealings with lack of control, mostly in the area of one Nine-tailed Demon Fox. During his training with Jiraiya, control was one of their main focuses. In order to not only bring himself to his highest potential but also to ensure the safety of Konoha, control was a necessity.

Not that he had full control over Kyuubi. A beast as rabid as that which lurked within him would never be fully controlled, a fact that several times the demon had rammed into his mind disastrously.

If Naruto were to be quite honest, he would tell the Hokage that the fox demon wasn't even a threat at the moment. Even if Kyuubi did have any intention of breaking loose and attacking Fire Country, she wouldn't get very far. The seal that Yondaime gave his life for still rested firmly in place, restraining her from breaking out of her confines. Even the small fractures that had accumulated in the seal during his three years of training had been virtually immediately patched up when he returned.

Nope, Nine-tails was no cause for worry. Uchiha Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed to be causing a great deal more worry than he should have been.

_I wonder if 'baa-chan would know what's the matter with him?_

About a block away from his tiny apartment, Naruto abruptly halted his steps, catching heel and turning back around. As freezing as it was and as flimsy and worn-out as his coat was and as ironic as it was that the first snowflake of what was sure to be many decided at that moment to land on his up-turned nose, the blonde teenager made up his mind that he wouldn't return to the warmth and comfort of his apartment complex until he'd worked a fashionable amount of the confusion and stress he'd built up with the last hour or so out of his system.

He would visit Tsunade first thing in the morning.

* * *

Of course, morning meant getting up, and getting up meant having to move, which Naruto was more than reluctant to do when 6:00 rolled around. The buzz on his alarm clock rang noisily, causing the barely conscious boy to cringe in irritation. Grappling blindly for the kunai he always kept underneath his pillow, he decided sleepily how to take care of the annoyance.

The alarm clock never even stood a chance.

(Well come on: inanimate piece of defenseless plastic with an obnoxious beep versus armed and groggy jerk of a demon-harboring ninja wearing a disruptively silly-looking night cap? I know you didn't think it did.)

At the mild crash resulting from his action, Naruto opened his eyes and attempted to become fully cognizant of his surroundings.

"Crap," he grumbled irritably to himself, "I've gotta stop doing that." He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and hair, letting his legs swing around the side of the bed to confront the cold air of morning in the Uzumaki 'home'. He continued talking to the world around him for the sole reason of persuading himself not to crawl back under the blankets and go back to sleep. "Even as a chuunin, I don't make enough money to buy myself a new one every time I get pissed and break it."

Hell, he wasn't even sure why he was up so damn early. The thought registered vaguely in the far recesses of his mind that there was a good reason; he had something to do, someone to see, someplace to be.

After a minute or so of shameless pondering, he remembered.

_Tsunade-'baachan! I've gotta go see her about Sasuke-bastard's weird behavior!_

And, being the curious little beast he was even after all these years, that realization motivated him enough to hop off the bed and even _hurry_ to the bathroom to take a shower, ranting to himself and his houseplants all the while about Sasuke being a terrible bastard, making him worry enough to get up that early in the morning.

* * *

_**Knock, knock, knock!**_

_Oh what the hell could it be now? It had better not be any more trouble... I've had enough of that within the last two hours to last me a lifetime._

"Get your ass in here!" Tsunade already knew who was on the other side of the door. She could sense that unmistakable presence a mile away. "I don't have all day, brat!"

The door to the Hokage's office burst open. "'Baachan!" Naruto squealed excitedly, happily dodging the shuriken (formerly paperweight) that embedded itself in the wall, a direct line from Tsunade through the spot in which the blonde chuunin had just stood. "Hm," he hummed out, more calmly. "Bad morning?"

"Terrible. You have no idea." Tsunade wasn't even looking at Naruto. Her gaze was focused intently on the jumbled stack of papers before her, her usually neat blonde hair messily tangled between fingers of the hand whose palm her head rested on. It was obvious she was stressed.

"You look like you could use a whole 'nother night's sleep, 'baachan."

"Don't you call me that, brat!"

Naruto just threw a small grin in her direction, though he knew she was too engrossed in her work to notice it. Allowing a bit of compassion for the old hag to seep through his persona, he made his way to stand behind her chair and placed his hands gently along the curve between the neck and shoulders. Massaging lightly, he asked, "Do you want some help?"

Tsunade allowed herself to pause in the oversight of the document she'd been evaluating to relish in the feeling of the tension being worked out of her collar. "Sorry, but this stuff's confidential. You can classify those mission requests, though," she amended, gesturing to another pile on her desk. "It's been so hectic this morning that I only got the time to scan and sign them."

Storing that information to be put to use in a few minutes, Naruto continued. "What is it that's taking up so much time and energy, then?"

"I can't tell you. I told you, this stuff is confidential until it's confirmed."

"Well sorry, how was I supposed to know the stuff you're working on now is the same shit?"

"Watch your language," came the automatic chastise, which went practically unnoticed by the energetic boy as he continued his rant.

"If it's really that important, wouldn't it be better to work on it when you're not so fatigued and all? I mean, even the Hokage needs a decent amount of rest, right?"

"Sometimes, the situation isn't so forgiving, brat."

Naruto deflated slightly. "Wow, you must really have a gift for making the Hokage title seem so unappealing. Especially to me."

Growing dissatisfied with the approaching topic, the younger ninja ceased his ministrations (a "Nnn" of protest from Tsunade accompanying) and made for the pile the woman had mentioned earlier. He took himself and the stack, sat down in the chair across from the Hokage's desk, and proceeded with his - or rather, Tsunade's - work.

After a little while of comfortable silence, through most of which Tsunade had half the mind to thank Naruto for helping her, the silence was broken by Naruto's voice. "There was something else I came to talk to you about..."

The woman raised her head. "Yeah, I had something to discuss with you as well."

"You go first, by rank default."

"Fine... It's regarding the reinstatement of Cell 7."

Naruto froze mid character, his eyes jolting up to meet Tsunade's. "Reinstatement? You don't mean..." he trailed off.

"What's wrong with that?" She asked, genuinely confused as to the boy's bewilderment. "You can't keep working solo and continue advancing, Naruto. Sakura needs the opportunity to practice more of her medical jutsu in the heat of battle, and Sasuke's been legally readmitted as a Konoha shinobi for over six months."

After taking all this information in and verifying it to be theoretically, hypothetically, and literally correct (respectively), Naruto bit his lower lip lightly and chuckled. "Actually, you know, I wanted to talk about Sasuke."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow curiously. "What about him?"

"He's been acting weird lately, I was wondering if you might know why."

"Weird how? Did something happen between you two?"

Naruto paused, unsure at first how to relay his bizzare experience, but then decided to just let it flow as it happened. "Well," he began, "I stopped by his house yesterday to drop off an invitation to the Christmas party. He seemed okay for a little while, other than maybe kinda depressed and antisocial, but hey, everyone's got a right to be a little moody once in a while, right?" Here he paused again, casting his eyes back to the scrolls in his hands and wondering how exactly he should word the next phase of his tale. "Then he started spacing out. I tried just about everything short of dumping water on him to wake him up. I even hit him!" His voice became quieter as he finished. "But when I said the word 'Uchiha,' he just sorta... snapped."

Quiet rang throughout the room, even the scratching of pen-on-paper absent as both inhabitants had quit writing long ago. The drawn out silence lasted a good minute or so before Tsunade spoke again. "You fought then?"

"Mm... more like brawled. Other than the punch I gave him while he was spacing out, I think the only injury incurred was some nasty nail marks on my shoulders from when I was pinned to the floor."

"Well that's good, that you're both alright." The woman paused again, setting her pen to her desk. She brought the other elbow to join the first in resting on the surface and laced her fingers together in front of her chin. "You say it was the word 'Uchiha' that set him off?" Naruto nodded. "Did he say why?"

"Something about he stopped being an Uchiha a while ago or something. He wasn't too specific."

"And this is the first time you've seen him act this way?"

"Yeah. To be honest, it was the first time I'd talked to him for more than five seconds since he got back."

"Hm," Tsunade closed her eyes in thought for a moment, then reopened them to stare back into carefully blank blue eyes, only a hint of concern present there. "I'll think on it. It may have something to do with his little trip to Sound. If what we're talking about is really something to be concerned over, perhaps it would be best to delay the reconfiguration of Cell 7 for a little while longer. We can't put it off forever, though, should certain circumstances arise."

The boy nodded again, a grunt of acceptance escaping from the back of his throat. He didn't even bother to question the cryptic statement that was left hanging in the air.

The Godaime retrieved her pen from where it lay and reprimanded, "In the meantime, get back to those mission requests, brat."

Naruto grinned cheekily and did exactly as she said, satisfied for the moment with her consent to helping him figure out what was the matter with Sasuke. He hated to acknowledge any lack of faith in the old hag, but for a short time, he'd been nervous to talk to her about it, scared that she might blow it off and say he was overreacting.

"And thanks... for helping me."

Naruto's grin became even wider.

* * *

Sasuke awoke in a strange place.

Not 'strange' as in unfamiliar, but 'strange' as in he wasn't quite supposed to be there.

There was a hard floor beneath him, and the clothes on his body felt wrinkled and dirty. They also felt suspiciously like the same clothes he'd worn the day before.

The sunlight stretched mockingly through the wide windows of his dining room, piercing his closed eyelids. He had a headache.

Though his body ached from spending the night on the floor, he managed to persuade the arm that had been crumpled around his midsection to lift itself over his face and shade his eyes as they opened slowly to take in his surroundings, trying to remember why he was there instead of in his bed.

_Naruto... yelling... I passed out..._

And suddenly, his thought train hit the brakes.

Pause. Rewind. Play.

_Passed out?_

What the hell? He was a shinobi, and shinobi don't just pass out randomly. What could've made it happen? He didn't remember getting into any physical fight with Naruto, other than the enraged blond giving him a good whack to the cheek, which, now that he thought about it, still stung a bit.

It couldn't be that Naruto's lousy punch had knocked him out, could it? He knew he wasn't that weak...

And why would the other ninja just leave him there? He knew they hadn't been on wonderful terms lately or anything, but the Naruto he used to know probably would've freaked out and done everything short of lagging his ass to the Hokage to make sure that a.) Sasuke was alright and b.) that it wasn't his fault. And hell, if it was a particularly bad day, Naruto might've flung restraint out the window and actually gone for the old hag.

Well, perhaps Naruto had changed.

Sasuke stood up and headed toward the kitchen for some aspirin.

_Or perhaps_, the black-haired boy considered, noting once again that he was in his living room instead of the dining room where he remembered, albeit vaguely, blacking out, _something happened that I just don't know about._ And really, the only person that _would_ know about it was none other than the blue-eyed boy who had either left him passed out on the floor of whichever room it was or...

_He probably tried to drag me to the couch but got lazy half-way and left,_ was the story that he decided to go with, at least until he discovered otherwise. After all, that made it much easier to go about his daily tasks more-or-less unaffected.

After gulping down a few pain-killing pills and ascertaining the time (about ten in the morning), he made his plan for the day. Nothing abstract, the same thing he did every day, just shifted a bit to compensate for the two hours he'd apparently slept in.

Breakfast, train, lunch, nap, train, dinner, sleep. And somewhere in there, he ought to throw in 'go to store' since he'd finished off the last of his tea catering to Naruto the night before.

_Speaking of..._

Sasuke glanced to the table in the next room to see if the two cups were still there. They were, along with a white something else that contrasted easily against the dark mahogany of the wood it rested upon. Traversing the distance in a fluid few steps that betrayed none of his mental or physical discomforts, he cast a wary look to the envelope that sat with messy handwriting proudly proclaiming, "Uchiha Sasuke."

"Naruto must've left this. It's probably why he visited last night," the addressee mused aloud. Remembering that he still wore yesterday's clothing, including his weaponry, he reached down and extracted a kunai from the holster that hung from his waist. In one smooth motion, he'd used the makeshift letter-opener to tear through the top of the crisp, white stationery.

_To:_ Uchiha Sasuke 

Uzumaki Naruto_ cordially invites you to attend _my awesome Christmas party! _on _Dec. 25th .

_Blah blah blah_... Sasuke didn't really bother reading the rest of it, not right then. He figured this was probably what Shikamaru had come asking him about the day before, which meant that it was at Iruka's house for some reason. His gears had already begun working, though, and he didn't really care about anything save that it was the perfect opportunity to see the blond and find out either exactly what happened, or (more feasibly) why Naruto had acted so strangely in just leaving him passed out cold on the floor.

Without wandering any further along that line of thought, Sasuke, deciding at the last minute to skip breakfast, tucked the kunai back in his weapons holster and made his way to the basement to practice his aim.

* * *

tbc!

By the way, not every chapter will begin with a song. I just thought it sort of fit with this one. There will be others, though, probably because I'm too lazy to think up my own chapter titles. :P

(edited 1x)


	4. Snow Colored Eyes

**Author's Note:. **It's at the bottom today, because I said so.

Reviewer responses!

**sylver rain:** Oh my, I'm so sorry! -_grovels, begging for forgiveness-_ I know it's been forever since I've updated, I swear it won't happen again! Unless it does. In which case, I'm sure there'll be a good reason... and that really didn't comfort you at all, did it? Well, I'm really really really sorry, in any case! And thank you for your review, I appreciate your kind words!

**rubie:** You. are. amazing! Your analysis of the story was not only flattering, but so horrendously accurate that it made my eyes bulge! I mean WOW. Either you're _really_ smart, or I'm _really_ obvious, lmao. And I'm glad it's not boring, I was really hoping that it would raise questions, you know? I hope you like this chapter, too. I don't think it'll answer any questions, but I'm still trying to lay out the groundwork, I suppose, before I get into all the fizzy stuff. On the bright side, Sassy-face and Naru-face will have a lovely little run-in next chapter, so woo! more boundary pushing! Haha, thanks for your review.

**hujin:** Yeah, it does. -_cries-_ Sadly, I couldn't think of one, so it's stuck with a terrible summary. Haha, if you think of one, I'll give you a... cookie? jellybean? I don't know. Anyway, yes, Sassy is a psycho. I'm always concerned about putting people in-character, so your comment made me very happy, thanks!

**melmit:** Thank you, I'm glad you like it! I've been trying to really make it develop, and I'm happy that you think I'm doing alright so far.

Thank you all for your terrific reviews! You really help keep the story going.

**Disclaimer and everything else:** See the first two chapters, because I'm not going to bother stating all that stuff again. :P

**Locked Crimsons**

Unit Four: Snow-Colored Eyes

"Sakura-chan! Hey, Sakura-chan, where are you?" Naruto blazed through the house like it was his own, searching for the pink-haired girl. On his way past the kitchen, he spotted the one to whom the place actually belonged and stopped dead in his tracks. The man was busy at the stove preparing the food for the party that night and running around spastically in true Iruka fashion. "Iruka-sensei, have you seen Sakura-chan anywhere?"

The apron-clad teacher paused in his frenzy and craned his neck around to look at his former student. "How many times do I have to ask you not to run in the house? And drop the title, for heaven's sake!" Naruto grinned sheepishly, and Iruka turned his attention back to his cooking. "I think she went out back to hang some streamers."

"Awesome! Thanks Iruka-_sensei_!" The flippant blond made sure to emphasize the title that time. It was offhand and slightly belligerent, he knew, but it was his way of letting Iruka know that he would always be a role model to him and no stupid vest was going to change that. Hell, he'd probably be Hokage and still calling him 'Iruka-sensei.'

Not even bothering with a coat, Naruto dashed outside according to the man's words. The 'dashing' part wasn't really necessary; it was just his natural senseless enthusiasm.

He found the pink-haired kunoichi in the backyard hanging decorations, just as he was told. Her face was half-covered with a green scarf and the coat she wore looked almost too big for her smallish frame, but Naruto thought it made her look adorable, especially with the hard expression of concentration plastered over her visible features. Hell, he hadn't seen her look so focused since the last time they trained with Kakashi-sensei.

She was doing a terrific job with the decorations, too, Naruto noticed as he stopped to admire her handiwork. The lights were already hung, each wire placed carefully among the leafless, snow-covered tree branches. He couldn't wait to see how they would look at night once they were turned on. Presently, Sakura stood on the trunk of the treedoubtless using her chakra to hold herself therewith one hand pinning the end of a streamer to a tree branch and the other digging in a pouch at her waist, drawing out a small thumb tack to secure the paper in place.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" the blonde finally yelled.

Now, had she been almost anyone else, Sakura would've immediately lost her balance in surprise and fallen to her doom. However, A.) she could sense his presence easily, B.) she was long used to Naruto's outbursts, and C.) she didn't like being laughed at, which is exactly what would've happened had she so much as flinched. They both knew she was a better ninja than that.

Instead, she calmly finished with her streamer and walked back down the tree, paying more attention to keeping her scarf in place than the blue-eyed boy waiting not-so-patiently for her, which she knew irked him. "What do you want, Naruto?"

Refusing to let Sakura's obvious dispassion get to him too much, Naruto folded his arms behind his head and launched into his ever infamous, "I'm gonna take a lunchbreak and head over to Ichiraku. You wanna come with me?"

Sakura figured she ought to think about the request before disregarding it completely. The prospect of food didn't sound too bad at that moment, since Naruto had arrived at her house to wake her up and drag her out before she so much as got to brush her hair. In fact, she was actually quite hungry. She was also running out of streamers and could probably use a trip out to get more.

"Can we stop at the store on the way back?"

"Pleeeease, Sakura-chan? I won't-" the blonde whined, before Sakura's words made it to his brain and caused him to suddenly blink in surprise. "Wait, was... that a 'yes'?"

"No, you idiot," the girl smacked her friend over the head ("Ow!"), "that was a question."

"Oh, well sure, I guess," Naruto pouted and rubbed the back of his skull dramatically.

"Alright then, let's go," Sakura began walking again, brushing past Naruto, who in turn followed like his usual energetic self. "We've still got a lot of work to get done, and I'm going to need time to go home and shower before the party."

The fox child took a casual whiff of the air, specifically the air surrounding Sakura. "You smell fine to me."

Sakura whacked him again. "It's the principle, Naruto. I want to look my best."

"Well, I already think you'd look the best, even if you came straight out of a spar." They exited the fence gate at the side of the house, which led to the front yard and the street.

"There's a difference between _my_ best and _the_ best," Sakura explained. "I want to be satisfied with my appearance, not just 'Ho-hum, well I look okay enough.'"

Naruto thought about this for a moment. "So you mean like, if no, when! _when_ I become Hokage, I can't just stop there? I've gotta keep going until I'm the best in the _world_? And then the _universe_?"

The pink-haired girl chuckled at the analogy. "Something like that."

* * *

Naruto yawned. He had finished with his part of the work, the inside decorations. Sakura had gone home for a little while, just as she'd said she would, and this had left Naruto and Iruka at the house all by themselves. It had taken four minutes for Iruka to kick Naruto outside, yelling after him to stay out there until he could come inside without making a pass at the cookies.

Now this was not a problem. The blonde knew that the older man only did it to teach him how to behave, and it certainly hadn't been the first time he'd been left out in the cold. The night he'd spent outside after locking himself out of his apartment was testament to that.

Naruto smiled, a hint of solemnity seeping through his expression as he gazed up at the slowly-clearing clouds and remembered that incident. He'd always kept the key to his apartment tucked inside the cozy crack in the wall next to his door, but that day, it hadn't been there; or any other place he could think of to look, for that matter. He had panicked for two hours. It had taken him another hour to remember that he had a window, and another to remember that he was a ninja (for crying out loud!) and he could walk up the wall to get to it. It took 2 minutes for him to remember that he wouldn't have enough money to replace the window if he broke it.

The next day, thanks to sleeping on the floor outside, Naruto's training had gone even worse than usual. After several nondescript glares from Sasuke and a few yells from Sakura, Kakashi had managed to pry the truthful reason out of him. The jounin had easily picked the lock, and Naruto remembered how, in the midst of the ensuing horror, he'd been so happy Sasuke hadn't been there to make fun of the disaster Naruto's apartment had been turned into. He also remembered Kakashi's words, _'Well, there's no use in crying over spilled milk, especially when it expired over a month ago,'_ and how his key had lain on the table in mock innocence. He'd carried the damn thing with him ever since.

That was the worst prank the village (as a collective) had ever pulled on him. Afterwards, however, the juvenile antics slowed tremendously, though Naruto wasn't sure whether it was because they'd finally figured out that they couldn't daunt him or because Kakashi-sensei or the late Hokage-sama intervened. He was quite resigned to never knowing, since caring at all, he'd realized, was letting the villagers win.

It was the same thing with Sasuke, really. Allowing himself to get flustered over the dark ninja was just like saying, 'Hey Sasuke, I'm still exactly the same pushover you knew back when we were genin.'

(_This_ was a problem: letting himself think.)

On the other hand, a bit of familiarity would be more than welcomed. Now, every time he even thought about speaking to the boy, he felt like he was dealing with a stranger.

He supposed, though, that in a way he was. After all, he and Sasuke hadn't really caught up on anything that had happened in the last three and a half years, and people can change a lot in that period of time. _Not that _I_ have, of course_, Naruto assured himself, remembering a few choice words of Sakura's the day after he arrived back in Konoha.

_'No, he hasn't changed at all.'_

Because now that he thought about it, letting himself be changed would've been losing, and this Naruto always won. Even when he was defeated, he found a way to win. And _that_ was the biggest change that had taken place.

He would not let Sasuke beat him.

"Naruto! The first of your guests is here!"

Blue eyes blinked lazily into the setting sun a couple of times before Iruka's words actually made it through his mind. _Someone's here? This early?_

Sitting up from his position (reclined heavily against the steps of the porch) excitedly, Naruto swerved his upper body so that he could more clearly see who it was that had arrived. The wooden door to the backyard had been left open to allow some of the hot air from Iruka's cooking out, so that the only thing that stood between Naruto and the anticipated guest was the flimsy, exposing screen door. Slowly, but surely, appeared the pale skin, dark hair, and lean figure of-

"Hinata-chan!" The blonde cried, struggling to his feet in a cacophony of limbs and very nearly tripping in his quest to envelop the young woman in a bone-crushing hug as soon as she came out the door, throughout the entirety of which said young woman turned varying shades of pink and red. This ritual lasted a few moments, and, when the young Hyuuga had been released and her breathing restored, the more talkative one continued. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

"I-It's nice to see you too, Naruto-kun," the shy kunoichi greeted, adding as an afterthought, "And thank you for inviting me."

"No problem, I'm just happy you're here!" Naruto flashed her a grin and made his way back to the porch steps. "It's turning out to be such a nice night, it's a shame it's so cold."

Hinata chuckled, watching him rub his hands together as he sat down again. She had been able to overcome much of her nervousness over the past couple of years through the help of Neji, Kiba, Kurenai, and others, transforming from a fragile little girl to a graceful young woman. This, however, didn't mean that she could think of anything to talk about when suddenly confronted with the love of her life, which usually stuck them to talking about the weather.

Noting the space that Naruto had left on the ledge, Hinata sank down next to him, cringing as she hit the cold of the wood. "Yeah, it really is. And we've still got a while b-before Spring comes around, too."

"But the snow sure looks pretty, don't you think?"

The girl let her gaze sweep over the sparkling landscape. "Yeah."

Naruto let out a small laugh. "Heh, y'know, with the light, it's sorta the shade of you and Neji's eyes."

"R-Really?" Hinata had never thought of that before, but she supposed it was true. It made her blush a bit, thinking that Naruto must've been looking at her eyes at some point. "Oh! That reminds me! N-Neji-niisan asked me to tell you that he'll be here soon. He had to finish some business with the elders before he left."

Naruto considered for a moment. "Does that mean he'll be in a bad mood or a good mood?"

Pearly gaze fell to her shoes. "I really don't know. He d-didn't say what the issue was, but I think it had something to do with... well, the you-know."

"Oh, his curse seal?" Naruto's smile waned, but didn't disappear. "Man, that thing must be such a pain in the butt to have. Not to mention it's ugly."

"I think he's trying to get them to remove it, b-but he refuses to talk about it with me."

"He's just PMSing. He'll come to you eventually, once he pries his head out of his ass and realizes how awesome you are."

"N-Naruto-kun, boys don't PMS," Hinata giggled, despite her chiding words, and Naruto's grin returned full-force. "Do you really think he will?"

"Yeah, sure! He might not be as brilliant and observant as me," Naruto puffed out his chest, "but he's definitely got enough brains to figure it out. Just you wait, okay Hinata-chan?"

Hinata smiled, albeit a bit sadly, still staring at her zori sandals. "I just wonder whether or not I'm doing the right thing sometimes, by taking over. I've gotten b-better, yes, but the leader of the clan should be the strongest, the smartest, the one that the rest feel they can d-depend on." She shifted on the steps. "I'd like to be that person, yes, but really I think that Neji-niisan is the best future for the clan."

Suddenly, the pressure of fingers was under her chin, and her milky, white eyes were pulled directly in line with bright blue ones. The sheer honesty in them made her blush, like they could see right into her. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. You'll have a lot of people right there with you to help you make the right decision, including Neji. And strength is something that comes from the inside," he poked lightly at a spot just underneath her left collarbone, "here."

"N-Naruto-kun..." The fingers disappeared, and Naruto grinned again.

"I've decided! It'll be the first thing I do when I become Hokage, to reunite the Main house and the Branch house of the Hyuuga clan! And then I'll outlaw the curse seal!"

Smiling, Hinata tried to ignore the heat that still lingered on her face and the sudden cold beneath her chin. "N-Naruto-kun, even the Hokage doesn't have the power to do that. It's a private matter between the elders of the clan."

But Naruto was on a roll. "And then I'll prescribe all bitchy bastards a thousand bowls of ramen per day to cheer them up. Actually, nevermind, I'll just make ramen the official food of Konohagakure, and have everyone eat it!"

"Konoha would soon be the fattest city in all of Fire Country," a new voice broke in from behind the two. "Hey, Hinata, long time no see." Hinata nodded in greeting.

"Ino-chan!" Naruto rose to greet the other blond. "Looking terrific, as usual," he drooled out, precariously eyeing the low-cut shirt beneath Ino's coat and scarf.

A vein popped on Ino's forehead. "Naruto, if I have to ask you not to call me that one more time, I swear I'll take a kunai to your throat in your sleep. And stop staring like that, you lecher!"

Naruto suddenly snapped out of it, well aware that Ino could and would follow through on her threats. "Well, it's your fault for wearing something so revealing! I'm just giving freedom to some of my manly instincts."

Hinata winced but giggled as Ino's fist came in contact with the boy's head. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. Now," Ino looked back to the house for a moment, as if checking something, "where's Sakura? I thought she was helping you decorate?"

"Oh, she went back home to get cleaned up. She's coming right back, though." Naruto extended a hand to Hinata, who took it graciously and stood up, flushing only slightly.

"And Sasuke-kun, too," Ino continued. "I figured he'd be here early catching up with you since you haven't gotten much chance to talk since he came back."

"Sasuke?" Naruto didn't flinch, though perhaps he might've. "No, I didn't even give him a... Oh crap! I left it there, didn't I!"

Startled by the boy's sudden swing of mood, Ino and Hinata exchanged glances. "Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked.

"It's nothing. It's just that bastard might come afterall, though I wouldn't count on it." He sighed. "The guy's got the personality of a rock, anyway."

"Oh please, Naruto," Ino remarked flippantly, "You're just upset because if he comes, he'll be the center of attention."

"I am not! And I don't care about what the stupid bastard does; he can do whatever he wants!"

"And I bet he will," Ino sighed dreamily, "which means that of course he'll be here, if only to see me!"

"I-Ino, what about Chouji-kun?" Hinata fidgeted nervously and the blonde-haired girl cast a look in her direction. Ino and Chouji had been spending a lot of time together recently, despite the skinny girl's distaste for his figure.

"Honey," she rolled her eyes as she began to reply, "as much as I like him, his looks are nothing compared to Sasuke's."

"Oh you girls, it's all about looks, isn't it?" Naruto grumbled.

"Maybe," Ino shrugged playfully. "But even if that were the case, you've got nothing to complain about. You've grown plenty attractive, Naruto-_kun_."

Surprise, at first, and then a grin no less than huge spread onto the boy's face. "Really?"

"Not with _that_ look on your face, but yeah. I'm sure Hinata over here would tell you the same thing. She practically has puppies every time she sees you."

Hinata's face abruptly turned crimson, the red of her cheeks rivaling that of the Sharingan. "I-Ino!"

Naruto, meanwhile, processed and stored this information. Contrary to popular opinion, he was well aware of Hinata's feelings. Ever since he was a genin, he'd been trained to read and predict people, and he often found himself practicing on his friends. He held no qualms about Hinata and even reciprocated her feelings, to an extent. There were things he disliked about her, sure. He didn't like the way she found it hard to stand up for herself and her beliefs, and he didn't like how shy she was. But he adored her courage and her ability to make the right decision when the time came. He liked how willing she was to learn from other people and gain strength from their advice. He liked how she believed in his dream of becoming Hokage. And most of all, he liked how she trusted him enough to tell him her problems, and even let him help.

His grin dropped to a horrendously exaggerated pout. "Aww, why didn't you guys tell me? I've been hot all these years and I haven't known it?"

"Because, we didn't want you getting a big head. After all, you're already over-confident as it is. Now you'll be ambitious _and_ conceited."

"I will not! Uzumaki Naruto is humble!"

"Yeah, and Hatake Kakashi is moral."

On his way to Iruka's house, a certain silver-haired jounin sneezed harshly.

* * *

"Kisame, do you hear something?"

Uchiha Itachi stopped walking and looked about himself. His partner did the same, stretching his hearing as much as he could. After a moment, he gave his prognosis.

"It's small, probably just an animal."

A rustle of leaves. A blink of an eye. A kunai embedded in a body.

Itachi moved to bend down and examine his kill. A small, but long creature was pinned to a tree by his kunai, hissing its final breath without baring fangs.

"A snake."

* * *

tbc!

**Author's Note:. **Aww, look! A little NaruHina love! Yes, this is a SasuNaru story (well, some NaruSasu, too, if you want to get technical), but it's _eventual_, meaning not quite yet, in a little while, gradually accumulating, etc. There will be hints of it shortly, possibly even in the next chapter. Just be patient.

I'm sorry for several things:

1. That it's taken me forever to update. Life has been sucking recently, even though I'm on spring break (praise Allah or whoever). I've been busy off the wall with people and practice and dA and more people.

2. That this chapter, without the A/Ns and reviewer responses, is so short (7 pgs in Microsoft Word). I honestly thought that this was a nice place to stop, even though I myself could point out a few things wrong with my decision. Oh well. I'm dirty and I want a bath.

3. That there hasn't been any noteworthy action in the story yet. I swear, it's coming; I have some lovely plans for this little story which I fully intend to follow through on. Once again, patience, my friends.

Oh, and reviews help. Especially if you want chapters out faster.

p.s. - I revised the first three chapters, mostly typos and random phrases I didn't like. The only change that doesn't fit into either of those descriptions, I think, is the time that it's been since Naruto left, which is now 2.5 years instead of 3. Have a nice day.


	5. Nowhere Fast

**Author's Note:** Actually, I have an excuse this time. It's in my profile. Basically: school, finals, prom, the official beginning of the skating season, and lots of miscellaneous and seemingly useless graduation shiznit.

I think if I had my way, this chapter is where the story would actually _start_. The rest of it so far has pretty much just been a prologue of sorts.

**Reviewer Responses:**

**Smoking Panda**: Thank you! I hope you like this chapter, and thanks for your review.

**Midnight-Sunset**: Thank you so much! As for what's happened to our dear Sasu-chan, you're just gonna have to wait and find out. _-cackles madly-_ Thanks for your review!

**kawaii kitsune-kun**: Yep, he sure is! But shhh, everyone in the fic still has to figure it out, and we don't want them to get a one-up on it. -_is mean to them-_ Haha, thank you for your review!

**Tsugath**: Yes, we will, and yes, he does, lol. I'm just a torturous authoress that likes to drag it out and stuff. Thanks for your review!

**rubie**: Here is your friction, lmao. There really isn't as much maturity in this one, but I hope you'll like it anyway. I'm so sorry for not updating! I feel so awful about it. Now that school's out, though, I ought to do better. And if I don't, you can whack me over the head with a frying pan, alright? Thank you for your beautiful reviews, I always enjoy reading them!

**hujin**: Agh, I hate that server error message! _-tries to kill it and fails- _Thank you so much, I really try to be original, _especially_ with the dialogue, because I've read too many SasuNaru fics that sound exactly the same in that respect. I'll do my best! Thanks a lot for your review!

**Sherlockian Slytherin**: Thanks! I hope you like this new chapter. I appreciate your review!

**Letta**: Oh, thank you so much! I'm happy that I made your day. This one isn't as funny, really (unless you're a sadistic authoress), but I do hope you like it! Many thanks for your review.

**Lord Zork**: Thanks so much! I'm very sorry for not having updated recently! Thank you for adding me to your favorites/alert/recommendation lists, lol, and for your kind review!

**Seamarmot**: Your answers have arrived! Well, most of them, lol. Thank you so much for your review, I appreciate it!

**melmit**: Thank you, I'm glad you like the style, and that you feel the plot is intriguing so far! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. I appreciate your review!

**me**: Thank you! I enjoy reading your reviews so much, lol. I'm sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up, I hope it satisfies, yknow? Thanks again for your kind review!

**Thank you all for your amazing reviews! I'm just floored by every word of encouragement. You all help keep me going! -_hugs you all-_**

**Disclaimer and everything else:** See the first two chapters, because I'm not going to bother stating all that stuff again. :P

_I take a look around; it's evident the scene has changed.  
And there are times when I feel improved upon the past.  
Then there are times when I can't seem to understand at all  
And yes it seems as though I'm going nowhere...  
really fucking fast._

Nowhere Fast  
Incubus

**Locked Crimsons**

Unit Five: **Nowhere Fast**

"No! It's my party and I can monopolize the bathroom all I want!"

"Come on, Naruto, you've got to come out sooner or later!"

Sakura thundered her fists to the bathroom door as hard as she dared -- yet again. Ever since Shikamaru had arrived saying that he'd seen Sasuke on his way, the blonde coward had taken up seemingly permanent residence inside Iruka's bathroom, refusing to come out until someone sent the "evil, manipulative bastard" home. Shikamaru had replied that he was surprised Naruto knew the definition of a word with as many letters as 'manipulative', and then gone on to remind him that, technically, he did invite Sasuke to the party also.

Even so, by the time Sakura and Shikamaru finally got Naruto out of the bathroom, Sasuke was already in the living room, sitting on the couch stoically and nursing his third cup of soda.

"No one ever said that you had to go over and be cheerful or anything," Sakura brought up, "but for heaven's sake, Naruto, at least say hello! He hasn't even had the chance to piss you off yet! What could you possibly be stalling for?"

_Courage,_ Naruto answered mentally. He'd been perfectly willing and even grateful to talk to the dark-haired boy at the beginning of the party, but somehow, during the course of the 30-minute period that had lapsed between then and now, his attitude had managed to make a 180 degree flip.

"Well, maybe he doesn't _want_ to talk to me," Naruto suggested. "In which case, you didn't have to drag me out, and I would've been doing him a favor."

"It's your party, Naruto. If he didn't want to talk to you or at least see you, he wouldn't have chosen to come."

A vein popped insistently on the blond's forehead. "Shut up, Shikamaru, nobody asked you."

"You're acting like a schoolboy with a crush, picking on the girl you like just so she won't think you're fond of her."

"Sasuke's not a girl! And I never picked on Sakura because I liked her! That's just stupid!"

The exasperated boy just sighed and shook his head. "Fine, Naruto. Do whatever you want, go back and hide in the bathroom for all I care." Taking Sakura aside as well, he then whispered, "Go off and chat with Ino or something. Leave Naruto to face his own stupid problems."

Sakura nodded and allowed her feet to drag her off toward the back porch where she'd last seen the blonde-haired girl, abandoning Naruto in the living room with just Sasuke for company. Well, actually, there were four or five other people in the room besides the two, but for all that Naruto was focused on, it may as well have been only them.

_Just think naturally. He can smell your fear,_ he thought to himself, casually making his way over to the refreshments table against the wall. _Just pour yourself some punch and act like you don't even notice him._

And that Naruto did. The punch was very interesting, too. It seemed to contain some sort of carbonated beverage, as well as firm traces of multi-flavored sherbet ice cream. He distractedly played with the ladle, not realizing that his cup was nearly overflowing with liquid until the deep, familiar voice that he'd been unconsciously waiting for and dreading echoed softly in his ear.

"I only came here for one reason," it hesitated, "and that's to talk to you."

Naruto took a deep swig of his punch, trying vainly to calm himself. "I thought you made it pretty clear before that you had nothing to say to me, U-"

_"Don't call me that! You're the one not making any sense!"_

_"Uchiha is your name! Uchiha Sasuke!"_

"...Sasuke-bastard."

The taller boy rolled his eyes. "You may have to refresh my memory of that statement, as I was... incapacitated half the time you were there."

"You were not!" Naruto barked, his voice radiating dangerously now. "Maybe you were just too busy pinning me to the ground and going nuts to think about what you were saying!"

Neji paused in his quiet conversation with Hinata to glance over at the arguing pair of shinobi. The loudmouth noticed this embarrassedly and threw an apologetic smile in the others' direction before turning back to his former rival. After a quick assessment of his surroundings, Naruto turned and began walking away.

"We're not talking about this here, asshole. Follow me."

Sasuke clenched his teeth and fists in resentment of being ordered around, but obeyed nevertheless.

Iruka's house was only one floor high, but if one knew where to look, one could find a small attic off a door in the laundry room. The door was small and the steps were narrow, but the room above could fit perhaps three people comfortably -- as long as they didn't breathe too much. Naruto weaved haphazardly through his small crowd of guests with Sasuke practically on his heels, and, after a roundabout journey, they arrived in this cozy little loft.

Naruto made no ceremony of sitting himself down onto the dusty, poorly lit floorboards among cardboard boxes labeled "spare shuriken," "extra school supplies," and "mom and dad's stuff," but Sasuke apparently preferred to stand for a few moments and examine the makeshift storage area. Here, the only people that would be able to find them easily were the Hyuugas, who seemed too involved in their own conversation to really care (it probably concerned either the future of the clan or Neji's curse seal; Naruto hoped to whatever god there was that Neji was opening up to the young woman).

"You can go ahead and sit, you know," Naruto suggested in a bored tone of voice.

"What happened?" Sasuke chose to disregard Naruto's statement, in favor of getting directly to the point. "What happened after I blacked out?"

"How would I know? You sure didn't black out while I was around... You were still alive and kicking when I left." He added as an afterthought, "And I bet I still have the bruises on my shoulders to prove it."

Sasuke shuddered involuntarily. "That's impossible. The last thing I remember is... _you_ pinning _me_ to the floor and asking what was the matter with me or something."

"Well maybe it's slipped _your_ mind, but I remember it quite clearly, thank you." Naruto paused and looked his guest straight in the eye. "It was right around the time you claim to have blacked out that you started screetching at me for calling you by your own name and told me to get out of your house."

"What...?" The shinobi's dark eyes quirked into an awkward shape as he fought to recall whatever it was that the blond was talking about, but to no avail. "Why would I do that?"

Said blond let out a bark of laughter. "That's exactly what you said then, when I told you you'd let me in yourself!" It was almost funny, how the entire situation should've been such a simple, straight line, but was somehow turning into a straggly kind of circle. "I told you that you didn't make sense and you bashed my head into your kitchen floor."

Highly skeptical, Sasuke made to cross his arms over his chest, but tanned fingers reached out and grasped one before it reached its destination, pulling and pitching him toward the body to which they were attached. The hand that was entrapped within Naruto's was brought candidly to the back of the sitting boy's head. Upon first contact, all it felt was the softness of clean, spiky hair, but it quickly stumbled upon a spot that made the face beneath the blonde mane tense up. And there was the evidence.

"See? The bump is still there, even with my accelerated healing," Naruto pointed out.

Sasuke suddenly jerked his hand away, as if his skin had been seared by the sudden possibility that he'd been the inflictor of such a thing. (He didn't even want to imagine what that lump would be like on a normal person.) His lips formed themselves into a firm line, and he nearly took a reflexive step back.

There was no way that whatever event Naruto was alluding to actually happened. He most definitely would have remembered any fight that they'd had where he injured the blond so badly.

Of course he would've. ...Wouldn't he?

Which left only one conclusion:

"You're lying."

It took Naruto's brain a moment to process this reaction, as he took it apart and analyzed each word to make sure there was no mistake in his interpretation and counterreaction. In the end, he decided a good "_What!_" was fitting.

"You heard me," Sasuke replied. "I don't know what possessed you to fabricate such a stupid story, but I'm not falling for it. I'd remember if we got into a fight like that. Or maybe you just hit your head so hard that you've forgotten what actually happened and decided to blame it on whatever's most convenient."

_Stop, rewind. He asks me what happened and then calls me a liar!_ Naruto's whiskered face flushed abruptly in anger, and he realized unsurprisedly that every time he encountered his former rival, he ended up having to calm himself down for some reason or another. "I did no such thing," he growled, keeping his temper under control with practiced patience. "I told you honestly and exactly what you wanted to know. I've even given you proof! Just because it's not what you wanted to hear, don't take your stupid denial out on me, got it?"

As impressed as Sasuke became with the icy glare that he was then accosted with, he had no intention of admiring it submissively, especially when he was still staring down at Naruto from a height difference of around three feet. Rather, he glared back as intensely as he was sure he could without elevating their little misunderstanding to a physical level.

He scoffed. "Don't mess with me, idiot. I shouldn't have counted on you as a reliable source of information, anyway." And with that, the stubborn boy turned and made his way back down the stairs.

Naruto, meanwhile, had finally decided not to take the abuse sitting down (so to speak). Practically jumping to his feet, he just short of yelled, "I'm your _only_ source of information, bastard!"

Sasuke paid no heed to the statement, though he knew it to be true. Unless whatever really happened was of life-altering importance, he figured, he could live in the dark. Hell, maybe someday he'd find out. For now, though, his first priority was getting out of the stupid house and the stupid party hosted by that stupid, blonde, lying dimwit.

Just when he neared the threshold of the front door, a human weight rammed into him from the behind, pressing from the side to pin him to the doorframe with an iron grip on the front of his shirt collar. "Don't you ignore me, _Uchiha!_"

Something stirred within Sasuke as the sound of that last word tumbled off Naruto's lips and into his ears, and damn, whatever that Something was, it was so _strong_ that it threatened to overwhelm him as he tried to maintain his inner balance. It was screaming to be let out, screaming and insulting and _fighting_ to find its way out, but he fought against it by concentrating his too-jumbled-to-be-useful senses on anything he could, and everything around him was _Naruto _and he lowered his chin to his collarbone in an effort to hide his eyes lest he actually look _weak_ and if this were a battle with an enemy of any calibur whatsoever, he'd be _so_ dead right now-

"-and if you want to fool yourself into believing _Look_ at me when I'm talking to you, ass-hole!"

But he just _couldn't_ look at that face, with those fierce eyes and furrowed brows and expression that was all sharp teeth and rushing blood. _Fuck_, he needed something else to-

"What the hell is going on in here?"

concentrate on.

"...Shikamaru." It was his own voice, and he was suddenly aware of the fact that the Something was gone. The blond's grip on his shirt loosened, and he felt himself consciously relax against the doorframe, though Naruto was still well into his personal space.

The new presence was immediately followed by others: Chouji and Kiba, and Neji and Hinata soon after. Naruto freed Sasuke entirely and took an almost nervous step backward. It felt like the very consistency of the air around them wavered.

"Now, don't do that," Shikamaru drawled in a dissapointed tone as he leaned against the wall casually, hands in pockets.

"And why not?" Naruto asked uncertainly, watching as the ninja let a lazy smirk cross his features.

Shikamaru's eyes flickered upward for a split second, and Kiba suddenly started to snicker before disguising it jaggedly with a cough. Hinata looked away, and one of Neji's eyebrows quirked in what Naruto concluded to be amusement. He let his eyes travel back to Sasuke, only to find that the boy had let his own eyes follow Shikamaru's and had turned a shade or two paler than usual.

Officially confused, he too directed his gaze upward, to the space between himself and Sasuke. "Oh hell."

Hanging precariously, just about half a foot out of arms reach, was an offensive assortment of deep green leaves and tiny, white berries.

* * *

tbc!

Now I know we're all waiting for the next chapter, even me, lmao.


	6. Provoke Me

**Author's Note: **This has been about 3/5 done for _months_. Part of it was actually done before I started the rest of the story. Unfortunately, I've had a terrible writer's block lately and the only thing I can do is draw. (To see the fruits of this labor, see http colon backslash backslash hoshiaka dot deviantart dot com.)

So finally, I have a new chapter out! I'm so sorry for the wait, I hope at least a few of you are still with me, though I wouldn't blame you if you weren't. -_sweatdrop_- About the chapter itself: I have to say, I hate how... typical some of the parts are. But I do like the mood. It's very... bipolar. LMAO, it goes from comical to serious to comical again... I'm such a terrible writer.

**Reviewer Responses:**

**Phoe-chan**: Aw, thank you so much! And Sasuke doesn't seem to need anyone to mind-rape him to give him problems, huh? lol!

**Jenniyah**: Thanks for your review! Yes, there will be some Akatsuki action (eventually), if I can remember what I was planning to do with it... -_sweatdrop_-

**kirby freak**: Thank you so much! I really try to use proper grammar, but I always end up making so many typos that I have to go back and fix the chapter about five times before I get it right, lol!

**kawaii kitsune-kun**: Lol, yeah, it's mistletoe! Thanks for your review, I think you'll like this chapter, mhm... -_wink_-

**tracy-kins**: Kya! I'm sorry for not updating! I promise, I _will_ explain things eventually, but it's going to be a few chapters, I'm afraid. Though I do plan on throwing a few hints out now and then. Unfortunately, this chapter seems to be so superficial and devoid of them... -_kicks self_- Anyhow, I hope you like this one!

**hujin**: I'm sorry about the mistletoe and the kissing and stuff... Just between us, the fic actually started out with the mistletoe and the kissing, so it's kind of a crucial thing to the story, BUT! After I started writing it and really developing the plot, it became something entirely different. I actually almost _wanted_ to make them punch each other in this scene... -_sweatdrop_- Oops! I'm spoiling the chapter, I'm sorry!

**Lady Samurai**: I'm sorry for not updating, but here you go! Thanks for your review!

**Eleature**: Thank you so much, I absolutely loved reading your review! That's exactly the way I intended the story to be, you seem to understand it really well! I'm always so paranoid that I'm going to screw it up, so if you have any pointers on the way I write the characters ("Naruto is too "this" here, try to write him more "that"), please, feel free to do so! -_hug_-

**Jadej.j**: Thank you! If you mean the sand nin, I really have no idea... I've thought about throwing them in, but I don't have any solid plans yet. -_sweatdrop_-

**paper fox**: (I like your new name!) Thanks so much! You're amazing, you really seem to have a grasp on the characters' personalities! I'm glad that you're enjoying the interaction between them. This chapter is kind of a turning point for them, but hopefully, you'll still see the same things that you like about the way they handle each other. I loved reading your review!

**AnnieThePipster**: I'm so sorry for not updating! -_is bitten all over the place_- Lol, I hope you like the chapter!

**Wistful-Eyes**: Thank you for your review! Here's your next chapter, though I'm sorry for how late it came out... Lol, yeah, Sasuke and Naruto sure do misunderstand each other a lot, don't they?

**me**: Gah! I'm so sorry! I've been meaning to update this thing, it's probably been another two months since you reviewed! ...Okay, only one, it looks like. But that's still too long! I hope this chapter makes up for it... -_wink_-

**Thank you all for your amazing reviews! I'm just floored by every word of encouragement. You all help keep me going! -_hugs you all_-**

**Disclaimer and everything else**: See the first two chapters, because I'm too lazy to state all that stuff again. :P

**Locked Crimsons**

Unit Six: **Provoke Me**

"You've got to be kidding me," the blond deadpanned, glaring up at the innocent-looking sprig of mistletoe for another moment before hurling his eyes back to Shikamaru. "You don't actually expect me to kiss that... that _bastard_, do you?"

Sasuke narrowed his gaze at the insult, but remained silent. All he wanted was to go home without hassle.

"Why not? It's not like you haven't kissed before," Shikamaru recalled. Neji's face morphed into confusion, as he wasn't present when the incident the boy was speaking of occured, but with a short whisper from Hinata, his smirk returned full force.

Naruto continued to protest. "Yeah, but we were younger, and it was an accident!"

Sakura, Ino, and Tenten chose that moment to saunter in curiously. "What's going on? I thought I heard..." Sakura trailed off, taking in the situation. Chouji, Kiba, the Hyuugas, and Shikamaru all stood in the foyer looking positively amused at her crush and her friend, who both stood in a doorway. Even without glancing upward, the predicament was obvious to her and to Ino and Tenten as well.

Ino giggled. "You don't mean...?"

"Oh yes," Shikamaru assured his teammate, "this is the price they'll pay for fighting at the party."

Naruto growled and let out a muted kind of grumble. He'd had a sort of hope before that if he ran fast enough, he might be able to get away relatively unscathed. Now that the rest of the girls had shown up, namely Sakura, that was no longer an option. He turned to Sasuke.

"Come on, jerk, let's get this over with."

"Fine," the addressee conceded easily, though he wasn't quite as relaxed about it as he seemed.

_He's going along with this so readily,_ Naruto noted absentmindedly as he returned to face his ex-rival, _I wonder if he's planning to punch me or something..._

So what now? Did they just stand there and wait for their lips to gravitate toward each other? Sasuke sure didn't seem to be making a move; did that mean he wanted Naruto to do all the work?

"Well?" the blond murmured impatiently. "Are you just going to stand there?"

"...Maybe."

This wasn't working. Naruto was already down to his last nerve with the pale-skinned boy, and the ordeal was taking so long that he was even beginning to feel awkward. He needed to think of the situation in a different way, just long enough to get through the stupid mess. And the first solution that came to mind upon that revelation was that they needed to be _provoked_.

_Maybe a challenge, anything to make it feel competitive or... I dunno, violent._

Naruto leaned a negligible amount closer to the other boy and gave another murmur, "Come on, our first kiss did suck, don't you want to prove you can do better? Or are you scared you haven't improved?" And with a bit of effort... there! a smirk to finish it off.

"Scared...?" Naruto didn't even have to try to widen his smirk when a slight frown appeared on the stoic face before him. Success! Just a little more, and maybe they could even finish what they'd started earlier, if in a bit of an unorthodox way. He leaned closer.

"Yeah, you heard me, coward," he said in a whisper meant only for the Uchiha's ears. "After all, you're scared of the truth, why not this, too?"

And that did it. With a feral growl, Sasuke crushed his lips to a waiting Naruto's, earning gasps from all persons whose mouths weren't presently occupied.

Naruto tried to submerge himself in the kiss, or rather, the assault. Rather than letting himself be led, however, he attacked back with equal force, nipping, biting, and sucking at the other's lips. He let loose all the anger and frustration that had been gnawing at him over the lasthour and poured it like gasoline into the firey exchange.

Sasuke, though understanding that the kiss was a fight, was slightly unprepared for the sheer violence of Naruto's reactions and unsure at first how to respond to the energy he was being greeted with. A slightly gentler sensation, and then there was a break in the kiss.

"What, is that all you've got?" was breathed into his lips.

Sasuke growled and dove in again, not willing to lose the little battle. Now he let himself go completely, taking every punch and kick that he'd been wanting to give to Naruto and translating them into a barrage of oral attacks. But he didn't stop there -- he dug up all the desperation and hopelessness he'd felt during the months since he'd returned and used them to fuel the fire as well.

The blonde ninja succumbed to a slight 'meep' at his rival's sudden increase in passion, unexpectedly finding himself pressed between the wooden doorframe and a cloth-covered chest. A cold hand made its way to his warm cheek, and a foreign knee between his legs secured him firmly in place. Despite the flicker of doubt that had sprung up with Sasuke's last move, Naruto allowed his body to do what it wanted, his hands darting up to grasp the dark-haired boy's collar and drag him further in. His tongue slid none-too-gently against the other's lips, but couldn't force its way past. Instead, barely a moment after Naruto let up, Sasuke pushed his own tongue through.

Eyes snapping open, Naruto was caught completely off-guard by the change in dominance. He tried to pull away, but the moment air hit his mouth, he heard another deep growl from Sasuke and was violently jerked back into the boy's lips.

Well fine, two could play at that game! Naruto's brows knitted together as he took the initiative and fought back against the other body, pushing them both from his side of the doorframe to slam the taller boy against the other side.

Neither let up for nearly another minute, Sasuke's arms at some point trapping Naruto's torso and the blond trying ferociously to suffocate his companion while simultaneously attempting to pull his hair out. Finally, however, the kiss broke, leaving Sasuke's breathing considerably more ragged than Naruto's.

"Ha, I win..." the blonde huffed, having expended a surprising amount of energy in the 'fight'. He slowly raised his body from that of his rival, allowing them both to stand up straight.

It was then that Naruto noticed something: entire room had gone dead silent. During his and the dark-haired boy's little exchange, he'd completely forgotten that there were other people in the room. Now, of course, he was forced to come to terms with that fact. Turning to face his fate (what is this, the apocalypse?), however, he found himself in yet another unexpected problem.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Iruka asked, in a tone that decisively left no room for any bullshit.

The other jaw-dropped shinobi had cleared the way submissively, only Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Ino, and Sakura remaining. Naruto figured Kiba presumably got sick watching, Tenten may have gotten bored or gone to find Kiba, and Hinata... where did Hinata go?

"Um..." Naruto really had no idea what to say that could possibly suffice for any part of what had just happened. He looked to Sasuke, only to see him... blushing? Oh god, he wasn't going to be any help at all. So Naruto did as Naruto does: he pointed at Shikamaru and yelled, "It was his fault!"

Iruka glanced from Naruto to Shikamaru, and then back again. The blond looked ready to sweat to death, and the accused still leaned casually against the wall, neither affirming nor denying Naruto's words. Sasuke just turned his head to face the other way, quite possibly contemplating running away.

"Naruto," Iruka began dangerously, "did I not specifically tell you there was to be no physical confrontation and/or sexual activity in my house?"

Naruto was quickly becoming frightened. "Yes..."

"And were you not moments ago engaging in not one, but _both_ of the aforesaid forbidden situations?"

"...No?"

And before the blond could process what was going on, his left ear had been kidnapped, dragging the rest of his body along with it. "You and I are going to have a long talk, young man."

"But-" Naruto struggled, but Iruka gave a sharp tug to silence the protest. "Ouch! Ugh, hey Sasuke!"

The boy in question abruptly jerked his eyes in Naruto's direction.

"Don't you dare leave yet, you bastard! We're gonna try talking about this one more time, you got it? Right after- Ow!" Naruto then disappeared behind another door.

And Sasuke suddenly found the remaining five pairs of eyes on him. _Am I really going to stay here like that idiot says?

* * *

_

tbc!

Well will he? -_shrug_-

If you review, maybe it'll remind me to get my (CENSORED!) moving, lolz. Ciao!


	7. Grey Matter

**Author's Note: **Wow, I'm actually surprised at how fast I managed to get this thing up. I guess that's just what happens when you have a billion things to do for school and don't want to do _any_ of them. -_sweatdrop_-

Anyhow, not much I can say about this one. We finally get a glimpse into the time Sasuke spent with Orochimaru, but other than that and some fairly striking teamwork on the parts of both him and the idiot one, this chapter is fairly dry. -_sweatdrop- _I'm glad you guys liked the little bit of SasuNaruSasu (whatever) goop in the last chapter. And I know some of you didn't like it. Well, too bad, it's necessary to the story. :P

**Reviewer Responses:**

_**From now on, I will be employing the IaD method of reviewer responses, because I simply do not have the time to thank/answer every single reviewer. -SWEAT-** _And so, each chapter, I will _randomly_ select five reviewers to answer to, though each review will be read and stored in a special place in my heart. Flames will be used to respectfully cremate all the victims that died of the sappiness of my last statement.

**melmit**: Thanks so much for your nice review! Yeah, I'm sorry the plot is so... drawn out... -_kicks self_- ...but I was hoping that little bit of action would give you guys a little pinch, just to remind you that the action _will_ be there eventually, no matter how slow I am, LOL.

**KidaYuri**: I am SO happy I picked your review! I swear, I laughed out loud when I read it the first time (and the second, and third..), and it was largely that one that gave me the firm kick in the butt that I needed to get moving on the story again. So THANK YOU THANK YOU! -_glomp-_ And yeah, Naruto was SO confused, LMAOz.

**Patty**: HAHA, I wish _all_ their fights ended like that, lol. Thanks for your review!

**Kisu**: LOL, thanks! I'm really glad you liked the kiss scene. Haha, if I ever saw that at a christmas party, though, I'm pretty sure I'd pass out from blood loss. I swear, I had a mental nosebleed just writing the chapter! XD

**Yu-lin**: Haha, thank you so much, I'm happy you liked it! Surprisingly, Iruka was actually the easiest part in the whole chapter to write! I hope I can do as well through the rest of the story... -_sweat-_

**Thank you all your amazing reviews! I'm just floored every word of encouragement. You all help keep me going! -_hugs you all_-**

**Disclaimer and everything else: **See the first two chapters, because I'm too lazy to state all that stuff again. :P

_Would it be so bad If you were to pretend  
That you were so happy? Keep it to yourself  
Don't let the secret go If you were so willing, but..._

_Let's pray for the suicide  
And all these pictures falling down around me  
I've surrounded myself with all I have inside_

**-**Finch  
_Grey Matter_

**Locked Crimsons**

Unit Seven: **Grey Matter**

Meanwhile, in the Room of Torture (or so Naruto had deemed it the moment Iruka slammed the door shut behind them)...

"Now Naruto," the brunette began, "I want you to take it from the top."

"The top of what?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Firstly, why were you _kissing_ Sasuke?"

The blond took a deep breath and prepared to explain. "Well, we were standing under the mistletoe and Shikamaru happened to catch us, and then the Hyuugas came, and Kiba and Chouji, and then the girls, and I knew there was _no_ way I was going to make it out of there alive if I _didn't_."

Iruka took a moment to process this. "So why did you get yourself stuck standing under the mistletoe to begin with? You knew it was there, you watched Sakura put up all the decorations."

"Well we weren't really paying attention to it at the time."

"Because you were too busy fighting."

"Yeah, so what if-" Naruto suddenly paused. "Wait, how did you know we were fighting?"

"It wasn't hard to guess. You two looked like you were trying to kill each other, even while your mouths were attached." Iruka had to stifle a smile in order to remain authoritative.

"Really?" Naruto chuckled at the his perception, supposing that it was true, considering that was, in reality, the case.

"Yeah, that, or you were about to do some _very_ indecent things in the middle of _my_ hallway."

At this, Naruto blushed ridiculously. "We were not!" He stammered. "Iruka! How could you even say something like that? This is _Sasuke_ were talking about! Sasuke who is a _guy_, and worse, _himself_, might I remind you!"

"That didn't seem to stop you from kissing the daylights out of him." Realizing they were getting off track, Iruka cut off the blond's next retort in favor of a new question. "_Anyway_, what were you fighting about?"

The boy didn't answer right away. Instead, he thought about how to word it so that Iruka wouldn't find out exactly what had happened that night at Sasuke's house. He wanted Tsunade, Sasuke, and himself to be the only ones to know. "Just him being an asshole, as usual."

Iruka sighed. "You two haven't seen each other more than a handful of times in the last six months. What's usual?"

Naruto's train of thought came to an abrupt halt with the realization of Iruka's point. Just what _was_ usual for them now? How could they expect the same kind of behavior from each other that they'd exhibited when they were younger? Naruto walked took a few steps toward the door, suddenly eager to get back to his guests, or maybe just one in particular.

"He hasn't changed. Sasuke is Sasuke is Sasuke. He's way too stubborn to let stupid Orochimaru change him."

Leaving Iruka to cringe at such blunt mention of the snake's name, Naruto thought about how much he would've liked to believe his own words.

* * *

_There was a lot of smoke. There was always a lot of smoke. The place he felt most comfortable in the entire village was beneath that tree, but it gave such a clear view of the smoke that it still almost made him pity the people that lived nearby._

_But there was more smoke than usual that day, which could only mean one thing:_

_Orochimaru's toy was out of the oven. And even Sasuke wouldn't be aloud to see it._

_It was only two days later that it happened, but Sasuke had been sensing it already for the half a year or so. He'd been sitting under the tree that reminded him of a place long forgotten when the shadows descended._

_"Little brother, how big you've gotten since last I saw you."_

_"Itachi. Get lost."_

_"The snake has taught you self-restraint, I see."_

_"Shut up and leave, unless you want to see what else he's taught me."_

"Sasuke..."

_"Look at you, panting and heaving. You'll never defeat that which is stronger than you."_

"Hey, Sasuke-bastard!"

_"Then would you renounce your own blood?"_

_"I will renounce _your_ blood!" Sasuke's free hand shot out to clench his brother's neck._

_It felt so... _warm...

"...Naruto?"

Dark eyes snapped fully open. Naruto crouched before him in the tree, gritting his teeth but making no move to fight against the hand firmly secured beneath his chin.

Sasuke recoiled immediately, but said nothing. No apology, no explanation.

The blond rubbed for a moment at the abused skin, but otherwise showed no signs of being affected. "Geez, bastard, what were you dreaming that you'd just lash out like that?"

"I... don't know," Sasuke lied. Of course he knew. On the rare occasions that he'd had dreams since he returned to Konoha, it had always been the same dream. He changed the topic. "Why didn't you defend yourself from the attack?"

"Well," Naruto replied, "I kinda figured you were still dreaming. Besides, I'd have kicked your ass, and then I'd have had to deal with a bitchier you than usual."

"I doubt that," Sasuke smirked.

"We're just gonna have to find out, then!" Naruto grinned right back, honestly excited to have a chance to spar with his ex-rival again while they were on civil terms. Unfortunately for him, though, it would have to wait.

"Not right now." Naruto visibly pouted. "What did you want? To pick up where we left off?"

Suddenly remembering Iruka's interpretation of "where Sasuke and he had left off," the blond felt his face begin to burn. In embarrassment, of course. And he knew that that wasn't what Sasuke was talking about, anyway. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay," the dark-haired boy assented, adjusting his position on the branch of the tree in which they both sat, "and you're going to tell me the truth this time."

Naruto sighed exasperatedly. "I told you the truth the first time, jerk. And it's the same truth that I'm going to tell you again and again until I pound it into your thick skull."

Sasuke felt himself becoming angry again, but forced himself to think objectively about the situation, lest they just end up in the same predicament thet got into the first time.

"Well, obviously, our stories differ on key points. Since we were the only ones there, though, we don't have anyone to verify the facts for us." He paused for a moment to try thinking of another solution. He knew by now that Naruto wasn't going to back down from his story, so they might as well try for some kind of compromise. "Could you explain what happened once more? Be as detailed as you can... like you're giving a mission report or something."

"Okay, I guess." Naruto cleared his mind as best he could and attempted to recall everything. Could Sasuke really not remember what happened?

* * *

"And then I said I'd see you around, grabbed my coat and zori, and left," Naruto finished decisively.

Sasuke gave him a stern look. "You're sure that's exactly what happened?"

The blond nodded. "Right down to the kind of tea you served."

"And I remember the tea, too, so I know your memory is accurate in at least that part. The place that our versions seem to branch off is..."

"...When I pinned you to the floor..."

"...and you called me by my surname. You said that's when I 'snapped,' right?"

"Right. You say you passed out, but I say you flipped out. But they couldn't both be true, could they?" Silence reigned for a few moments as the two boys tried to rearrange and organize their thoughts. "Well," Naruto finally continued, "is it possible that... both of them _are_ true?"

Sasuke looked confusedly to cerulean eyes.

"That is to say, maybe there's something we haven't considered. Like maybe... no, nevermind, that couldn't have been it..." the blonde idly mumbled until it occurred him to ask, "Sasuke? Um... have you ever felt any kind of weird reaction to your surname before then? Or since then, for that matter?"

The dark-haired boy seemed incredulous at the implications of Naruto's question. "What exactly are you getting at, here?"

"I'm just trying to think outside the box," the boy explained. "I mean, we aren't getting anywhere with your traditional critical thinking. Maybe you should start thinking like me for once!"

Watching a grin spread across the whiskered face, Sasuke sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, the other boy was right, they weren't getting anywhere thinking so... linearly. If they were going to solve the puzzle, they were going to have to think in as many dimensions as possible, ruling out _no_ possibilities even if it means compromising one's pride. And when he thought about it...

"Yes, earlier tonight. You called me by my surname while we were fighting near the door, just before Shikamaru came. I felt something like... being overtaken with emotion, though I can't really say that _I_ felt anything. Like there was some other part of me feeling those emotions that was separate from the me that was standing there fighting with you."

Naruto allowed this information time to sink into his brain, hopefully enough so that he'd remember it the next day. "Sasuke, I think we're getting somewhere now, but would you agree to come and see Tsunade-baachan tomorrow anyway?"

Sasuke's first instinct was to protest. "Naruto, I really don't think-"

"She would be the only one to see you or hear anything about it that you tell, other than me. And hell, if you didn't want me to know about it, I'd even leave you alone, okay? I swear, on my nindo. Just please say you'll go?" Naruto's expression was mildly hopeful, though his words were every bit as serious as the boy could make them.

"...Why are you insisting like this?" Sasuke asked.

"Why'd you stay at the party?"

The question was pondered for a second or two. "Fine, I'll go. By the way, about that kiss..."

* * *

tbc!

Y'know, sometimes, it takes a little while to get me going on a new chapter, and I have to just let my idiocy flow for a few lines before something decent actually comes out. If any of you out there are Star Trek geeks like me and have seen the fourth movie (a billion times), you'll probably get this.

**Omake!**

Meanwhile, in the Room of Torture (or so Naruto had deemed it the moment Iruka slammed the door shut behind them)...

"Now Naruto," Iruka began, "I want you to take it from the top."

"The top of what?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Name."

"My name?"

"No, _my_ name," Iruka said sarcastically, becoming frustrated.

"Your name's Iruka, Umino Iruka," the blond answered.

"You play games with me, young man, and you're through."

"I am?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, resembling a child. "May I go now?"

A vein popped on Iruka's forehead, and Uzumaki Naruto wasn't seen or heard from again the entire night.

* * *

And there you have it! A new, horrible chapter.

Is it just me, or are these things getting worse as I go? -_sweat-_


	8. In Need of Distraction

**Author's Note:** Yo, what's up? Horrendously long wait again (not that you all need to be reminded), so I'm sorry about that. I'm sure I could find plenty of excuses, but I don't have time to make them. -_sweat_-

So uh... I tried to make this chapter longer than the other ones (and I did! Aren't you proud?), but I actually don't like it so much. It just... eh, I don't like it. Anyway, it has some more making out and stuff, and some Sasuke being OOC, but no romance. Sorry, that's the way things work in hoska-land... making-out first, love later. At least in this story. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, I almost forgot, I have a new story going on, called "The Shining Glass." Which is also SasuNaruSasuWhatever. You might want to check it out, it's better than this one, LOL.

(edit 11/21/05)

**Reviewer Responses:**

Each chapter, I will _randomly_ select five reviewers to answer to, though each review will be read and stored in a special place in my heart. Flames will be used to respectfully cremate all the victims that died of the sappiness of my last statement.

**melmit**: Lol, I'm glad you're liking the story so far, and that the pacing isn't too rushed. It goes really slow in this chapter, though, I'm afraid, since half of it is flashback, but we should get back to normal again pretty soon. Ah, yes, sexual tension, one of my favorite things to incorporate in SasuNaru stories. There'll definitely be some of that, and probably some jealousy, too, though I'm not quite sure how yet. Thanks a lot for your review!

**demon-flying**: Thank you for your review, and for your nice words! Sorry it took me so long to get up!

**SitDog-Boy**: Haha, I'm sorry for making you wait so long to see what happens! WOW, the best? That's so great to hear! Thank you so much for your review, I hope you keep liking the story!

**Twin Sun Leader**: Thanks, I'm glad you like it so much and that you think it's intriguing. (I always like hearing that kind of thing!) I hope you keep liking it, and that the pacing stays good for you. Thanks again for the review!

**lordessofchaos**: Thanks so much for your review, what you said about the scenes really made me smile! I'm glad you like how I wrote Naruto and Sasuke, though I'm afraid their kinda out of character in this chapter. I hope you still enjoy it!

**Thank you all for your amazing reviews! I'm just floored by every word of encouragement. You all help me keep going! -_hugs you all_-**

**Disclaimer and everything else: **See the first two chapters, because I'm too lazy to state all that stuff again. :P

Unit Eight: **In Need of Distraction**

"Aaargh! I can't believe the nerve of that bastard!"

Naruto stormed into his dark apartment with a look of absolute genocide on his face. Right then, he was in a worse mood than that time when Lee snuck into his apartment and replaced all his orange jumpsuits with green bodysuits and he'd had to go get them back in nothing but his boxers, repulsed at the idea of walking a single step out of his apartment in spandex. At the time, he'd wanted to beat the overly-exuberant boy into the ground with his hitai-ate.

But that was over. Currently, he was entertaining thoughts of killing a certain raven-haired ninja. A certain raven-haired ninja who suddenly had him doubting every logical fiber in his being.

He tossed several plastic bags full of leftovers from the party (given to him by Iruka after they finished cleaning the house up) onto the table, not even bothering to turn the light on, and, after ripping his coat from his shoulders and dropping it to the floor noncommittally, made no hesitation in dragging himself to his bed and flopping his body down into the mussed up ball of processed, white cotton that was his sheets. He figured that if he slept off the incident, he'd feel much more prepared to forget the whole thing in the morning.

That's _if_ he could get to sleep.

* * *

_"By the way, about that kiss..." Sasuke brought up casually._

_Naruto's brow immediately wrinkled, but he fought back a scowl and opted instead for a pout. He really didn't want to talk about it. In fact, he'd rather pretend it hadn't ever happened. Wouldn't Sasuke feel the same way? "What about it?"_

_The dark-haired boy's eyes faltered for a moment and he looked away. "...We should do it again."_

_"WHAT?" Naruto's jaw must've dropped so far it almost pulled him out of the tree. What on earth could have possessed Sasuke to say something that absurd? Was he sick? Was he trying to play some kind of prank? Yeah, that must've been it. Sasuke must've been expecting him to throw a punch at the clone or whatever it was up in the tree with him so that it would disappear in a puff of smoke, leaving the real Sasuke to laugh at Naruto's embarrassment. Except that Sasuke wasn't really the type to play jokes... or at least, he didn't used to be._

_Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean right now, idiot. And don't be stupid, I know you're thinking I must be sick or something to suggest such a thing."_

_Naruto's eyes widened fractionally; he was suddenly dumbstruck for a whole new reason. Sasuke knew what he was thinking? No, that couldn't be right, they'd changed too much since the last time they'd really talked... It must have just been a lucky guess._

_"It's just that... well, I'm sure you felt the difference. Before the... kiss, or whatever, we were both pissed. Afterwards, you just laughed it off like it was no big deal."_

_"That's because I don't always have a stick up my ass like someone else I could name." The blond crossed his arms and tried pointedly not to think of what the other boy was getting at by his previous statement._

_"You have your moments."_

_"Like when?"_

_"Like now."_

_Naruto was beginning to get angry at Sasuke for the second time that night. "I do not!"_

_The dark-eyed boy still looked relatively unaffected and calm, though there was definitely a trace of agitation detectable in his voice as he replied, "Fine, idiot. Think whatever you want."_

_Naruto ground his teeth together, knowing his rising anger was completely obvious. How is it that they could speak to each other just fine sometimes but the second one of them brought up something they disagreed on, it escalated into this? Well, _that_ at least hadn't changed about their relationship, though it seemed like some parts of it had. And other parts of it were still mutating, even as they sat in that very tree. He couldn't help but think about how they would've reacted to this type of situation when they were younger. He probably would've thrown the punch by now, and Sasuke would've easily dodged it and called him a stupid dead-last and then left, with Naruto yelling insults behind him. But instead, here he was, sitting there and listening to _Sasuke_ of all people telling him he had an attitude problem._

_Up to that point, Sasuke had been gazing at Naruto with that familiar, slightly irritated expression on his face, his mouth pressed into a firm line and his body rigid with well-practiced stoicism. Now, however, it seemed like the boy relaxed just a little, and his lips transformed into a cocky smirk. "Kiss me, now."_

_"You're crazy! No!" Naruto knew those were probably not the best words to use, but they had been the first things to jump out of his mouth. After all, 'kiss' and 'me' were the two words Naruto had wanted next to least to hear out of the other boy, but there he had gone and said them as if he didn't care at all. Why shouldn't Naruto do the same?_

_The blond watched as Sasuke allowed the edges of his smirk to take a downward turn, producing a sort of shallow frown. Something about the look in his eyes, though, said that he wasn't even close to backing down, and his next words—and actions—proved it. "Fine," he stated with an even, almost dangerous tone, "If you're too scared to do it yourself..."

* * *

_

After tossing and turning for something like an hour, Naruto decided that resistance was futile. It seemed like he was somehow jinxed into replaying the stupid night ceaselessly in his head, whether or not he wanted to.

Rising from his just-getting-warm-finally sheets and cursing how long it took to get comfortable in the winter, the blond stretched his arms over his head and took a few steps to the space heater in the corner of the room to turn it up a notch or two. He then made his way to the kitchen area of the tiny apartment.

"I should probably put those left-overs in the fridge anyway," he grumbled, still grouchy about having his attempts at sleep thwarted by unpleasantly confusing remembrances of raven hair, dark eyes, and pale-pink lips twisted into smirks and scowls.

Trying vainly to shake his head free of lingering thoughts and images, Naruto grabbed a cup of ramen and began hastily preparing it. He allowed his mind to be swept up in the familiar and happily Sasuke-less motions—_boil the water, peel back the lid_—and indulged in gazing at his surroundings as if for the first time. The place was pretty clean, with the exception of the left-overs—_put those away_—but his house plants looked like they could use a good watering. _Fill up the pitcher, go around the room_. All the posters on his walls from when he was younger still remained, and his eyes scanned over them briefly, returning to his plants when they skimmed over the one, _"Beat-"_

His water was ready. He set the pitcher down—_pour boiling water into the cup_—and got out a pair of chopsticks. And then, leaning against the counter, began the torturous 3-minute wait. But what else was there to distract him?

His thoughts again began to drift unbiddenly.

* * *

_Then I'll do it for you, was the silent end of the sentence._

_Sasuke suddenly sat up on his heels, and in the blink of an eye, one hand was firmly against the bark on either side of Naruto's head, trapping him face to face with the other boy. The blond knew what was going to happen, but was somehow paralyzed by the intense fierceness in the dark eyes of his companion as they drew closer to his own._

_His teeth were still gritted together and he may have been growling, his anger boiling from the base of his jaw upward. He vaguely wondered if his body was shaking at all, and what color his eyes were. He wasn't murderous yet, but he clasped his eyelids together just in case, though, he realized in retrospect, it might've been better to keep them open if there was a chance they might scare off his predator. A finger beneath his chin yanked his face up to a more accessible angle, and he wondered again at the fact that he wasn't beating the other boy down, or even really resisting at all._

_Without any further warning, a pair of lips descended onto his own. They were firm and rough, but still gentler than they'd been earlier in the evening. They were chapped, much like his own, and he could feel the uneven friction where the dry spots caught on each other and stuck slightly. Shuddering at the queasy lack of aggression, Naruto moved his own lips in an effort to inflict force, hopefully but not definitely force toward getting Sasuke away from him._

_It didn't work, of course. His brain, at the time, was a muddle of anger and tension and confusion, and why the hell was Sasuke doing this when they could just as easily fight their stress away with their fists instead of their mouths? Oh yeah, they were at a party. It wouldn't do to give Iruka's tree an impromptu trim by mistake._

_Sasuke seemed to change his angle for a moment, allowing him to attack Naruto's lips more fully. Finally, he was getting a bit more violent, the way he was running his tongue across both of their lips. The blonde boy wasn't sure whether it was to smooth over the chapped areas or an attempt at getting into his mouth, but either way, it felt better, with his lips being able to slide against the other's like that. That didn't mean there was any way the kiss was going any further than it already had, though, Naruto decided, so he clamped his teeth and lips firmly shut._

_This seemed to slow the other boy down a bit. A small bite was delivered to his locked lips, but he still refused to open up, like a stubborn boy at the dentist's office. Sasuke let up for a moment, obviously seeing that Naruto was going to make life as difficult as possible. Even with his eyes still closed, the blond could imagine the look of frustration on his darker counterpart's face._

_He didn't, however, expect to suddenly find a hand on his hip, or a knee between his legs. "Don't be a bigger idiot than you already are," came the agitated breath next to his ear, "the point is to let yourself go."_

_"I don't trust you." His words came out a lot weaker than he'd planned, but they must've made at least some kind of impact, because only moments later, he felt a semblance of his personal space return as Sasuke pulled back slightly._

_"Look at me," he commanded._

_Naruto almost expected the Sharingan to stare back at him as he opened his eyes hesitantly. To his surprise, though, Sasuke looked... well, normal, with the exception of the more-irritated-than-usual expression he sported. "Yeah, what _about_ you?"_

_"It's me, Sasuke. This is about stress relief, not romance, and I know you trust me enough for that, or you wouldn't have brought me back here, let alone invited me to this party." All of this was said with the utmost certainty, if the steady voice and unwavering, coal-black eyes were any indication._

_Knowing that he'd give in to the other boy's logic if he gazed any longer upon his face laden with so much conviction, Naruto reclosed his eyes. He didn't want to be convinced, damnit. "Kissing is something lovers do. Not ex-rivals."_

_"We felt like rivals under that mistletoe, and not lovers at all."_

_"Damn you, bastard," his resolve began its inevitable crumble as a low, gutteral chuckle resounded from Sasuke's lips. Lips that were again nearing his own.

* * *

_

A knock on the door startled Naruto out of his memory, and he couldn't remember a time when he'd been more grateful. Getting back into the swing of where he was, he glanced down to his cup ramen, which he'd somehow managed to forget about, only to find that it was cold.

"Damnit, now I have to warm it up again," he muttered, _And it's all that bastard's fault. _He made his way unhurriedly to the door, where the visitor had begun knocking again impatiently. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Geez, what is this, Be a Bastard to Uzumaki Day?"

When he yanked open the door, however, he was shocked to find one Hyuuga Neji there, standing impassively as ever, with just a hint of business-like conduct etched into his body language. In truth, the white-eyed boy just wanted to get the visit over with as soon as possible. He wasn't in the greatest mood, and he was tired, and he'd eaten too many potato chips at Naruto's party. He wanted to sleep.

"Neji?"

"Naruto."

"Is there... something I can do for you?"

Neji shrugged dispassionately. "I just came to ask you a few questions... about you. And Uchiha."

The blond froze. _Hyuuga... of course. Even if the tree hid us pretty well from everybody else, he probably saw me and Sasuke with our mouths attached! But why would he care? Ugh, I really don't want to talk about this... especially standing around in the middle of the apartment building like this..._ "Uh... come on in, Neji. You want some tea?"

The dark-haired boy stepped inside, not really casually. "No thank you, Naruto. I can't be here long."

"Oh, alright," Naruto shut the door behind them. He didn't press Neji's presence, not really wanting company that knew about his... interesting night, no matter how well it might work to distract him if they were to speak on a different topic.

As soon as they were comfortably inside, the Hyuuga began. "Forgive my bluntness, but why were the two of you kissing?" He knew his questions were probably unwelcome, but they had to be asked, and answered, and he figured that the best and least painful way to go about it would be to be as straightforward as possible.

"Uh... because we were standing under the mistletoe and Shikamaru made us?"

Neji's expression suddenly went from impersonal to frigid, effectively communicating that he was in no frame of mind to beat around the bush.

_Well, it was worth a try_, Naruto thought, ready to sweat buckets already. "Then... you mean the tree." A stiff nod. "Ahaha, well, a funny thing, that... You see, it wasn't really my intention to kiss the bastard at all..."

White eyes narrowed, clearly skeptical. "You were pinning him to the branch, practically sucking his face off."

A cough abruptly raked through the blonde boy's throat at the way his friend worded his statement, though he couldn't really deny it. It was just... surprising to hear it said so... so... exactly the way it was, now that he really thought about it. "Well, it took a lot of convincing! I really hadn't wanted to, I swear, I just got a little... carried away after it started, and really the whole thing is Sasuke-bastard's fault, because he was the one who wanted to or thought he had to prove this thing to me, and-"

"_Naruto_," Neji's tone immediately shut the other boy up. Raising a hand to rub at the bridge of his nose, he tried to be as frank as possible, hoping that no more rambling sessions would be instigated. "Just tell me, honestly, are you two..."

Before the older boy could finish, however, Naruto cut him off, sensing where the question was going. "_No_, definitely not anything like that," he exclaimed. Trying to relax a little in order to give a reasonable explanation, he took a deep breath before continuing. "See, before the whole mistletoe thing, the two of us had a really nasty fight, but I guess we spent most of our anger in the... kiss, or whatever." He knew he was beginning to blush like a fool, and _in front of Neji_, which was even worse, but he just had to dish out the reason somehow. "So later he suggested that it would be a good way to work off stress without killing each other, but I didn't agree, so he decided to... show me, I guess. He got me worked up purposely, and then... yeah. The tree."

Neji nodded in apparent understanding, and then turned to leave, having gotten what he came for. Before he could make his exit, though, Naruto had a question for _him_.

It had been bothering him since he'd let the Hyuuga in. "But why'd you come over just to ask me that? I mean, why do you care about it?"

The white-eyed young man turned to regard him, a calm expression back to gracing his features. "It's not that _I_ care, per se," he explained. "I wouldn't have even been paying attention. It was Hinata-san who saw you first."

Naruto paled slightly. _Hyuuga... of course.

* * *

_

tbc!

Thank you all for your support, and please keep reviewing! Every review I get is like a kick in the butt to get me writing, so I can't do it without you!


	9. And Are You Still

**Author's Note:** Yo, long time no see! Sorry for that, by the way. I'm sure I could make plenty of excuses, but in the end, it's just me being crappy and working on other things. Like TSG. And watching Bleach. And Ouran High School Host Club. Which I demand that you all go see. Right now. It's better than this shitty chapter. _-hates-_

**edit (06/15/06, 14:19):** Minor phrasing edits and typo corrections, 'cause I typed up this whole thing in a real hurry (about an hour, in total) and didn't really bother checking it for errors.

**Reviewer Responses:** THANK YOU to everyone who has read and reviewed! All the positive feedback I've gotten has been wonderful. _-hugs everybody-_

And thanks to the new reply feature, I can reply to questions and whatnot individually outside chapters! So I also want to thank the ff admin for being so helpful and convenience-oriented.

**Disclaimer and everything else:** See the first two chapters, 'cause I'm too lazy to state all that stuff again. :P

Unit Nine: **And Are You Still**

Morning came after a restless night. Naruto wasn't really sure he'd slept at all.

He stirred the moment sunlight began to shine through his bedside window. His head ached, and his whole body felt cold. Figuring he might feel better if he moved around as opposed to lounging around lethargically under his covers for an hour or so as he usually did on cold mornings, the blonde boy rolled himself out of bed and made a beeline toward the bathroom. Crossing in front of the mirror, however, he stopped to look at himself and was immediately displeased. The bags under his eyes could've held groceries.

After splashing some cold water on his face to wake him up a little, he made his way to the kitchen and grabbed an apple from a basket on the counter.

He had to meet Sasuke that morning. He almost wished he'd forgotten.

His thoughts suddenly thickened with remembrance of the previous night's fiasco, and he let his gaze flick to the green and red apple he held. "Fuji", the little sticker proclaimed.

He didn't really want to go. But at the same time...

_"Yes, earlier tonight. You called me by my surname while we were fighting near the door, just before Shikamaru came. I felt something like... being overtaken with emotion, though I can really say that _I_ felt anything. Like there was some other part of me feeling those emotions that was separate from the me that was standing there fighting with you."_

...It was something that needed to get done. Regardless of what he wanted to tell himself, the plain truth of the matter was that he wanted to help. Sasuke could be pretty freaking stubborn, and if left to his own devices, Naruto was fairly sure he could assume, the arrogant boy wouldn't bother doing a damn thing about it until it was way beyond his control.

_What if it had something to do with Orochimaru?_

Sasuke had submitted a fair report about his experience in Sound country months ago, but even if that report hadn't been classified for the eyes of only Tsunade and the council members to see, there could still be a plethora of things that the dark-eyed ninja was withholding from his peers and superiors.

_What if it was Itachi?_

Naruto didn't know much about how Sasuke ended up where he'd been found, but even back when he was a puny little genin brat, the only person around who had both the will and the ability to beat the young Uchiha up that bad had been his elder brother. And if it _had_ been Itachi who'd reduced Sasuke to that condition, there was bound to be psychological aftermath.

In addition to that, there were probably a good many other things that Sasuke had gone through during the expanse of his life that Naruto had no way of knowing about and probably never would. Who was he to say that whatever was going on didn't claim its roots further back than when he even became acquainted with the boy?

Hell, who was he to say there was something _really_ going on at all? Maybe the whole thing was just a fluke, or himself overreacting.

Well, if there was something truly the matter with Sasuke, he was going to find out what it was even if it killed him.

Which is why, despite the naggings in the back of his mind regarding any lip-locking incidents he'd had with his ex-best friend, the blonde boy left his apartment and headed out toward their designated meeting place an hour and a half later.

Sasuke stood casually, leaning against the front wall of the ninja academy. Now that Naruto thought about it, it was kind of funny. This was where they'd first met nearly four years ago, and now, walking up to the standoff-ish teenager, it was almost like they were meeting each other all over again. It gave him the urge to greet him, 'Hi, my name is Uzumaki Naruto! What's yours?'

Instead, he just called out an energetic "Yo!" Although spoken with cheer, it didn't reflect Naruto's feelings at all. What he really wanted to do was sigh and whine, and keep a lot of physical distance between them.

But of course, Sasuke wouldn't have that even if he had known. The dark-haired boy sidled up before him and grumbled a lackluster "good morning," not making any effort to seem pleased.

Naruto jutted his lower lip outward. Sure, it was pretty early in the day, but Sasuke looked like -- for lack of a more descriptive term -- hell. If Naruto had gotten little sleep, Sasuke must've gotten none at all. _(Damnit, is he still trying to beat me at _everything?) The skin of his face was taut, stretched tightly over his cheekbones, except below his eyes. The purplish bags there contrasted deeply to his pale skin, making him look older than he really was.

Naruto wondered if they'd just sprung up over night, or if they'd always been there and he just hadn't noticed.

In any case, it was obvious that he wasn't happy. The blond assumed that it was either because Sasuke wasn't a morning person or because he wasn't looking forward to their destination.

Suddenly reminded, Naruto stopped his mental once-over of the other boy and began walking in the direction of the Hokage Tower, the Uchiha trailing next to him, just out of sight.

"You look like you haven't closed your eyes since yesterday," Naruto began, chatting lightly. "Spend all night training?"

Sasuke's shoulders relaxed a bit, and he let out a little puff of breath. "Hm. Wouldn't you like to know?"

Naruto heard a smirk in the lilt of the other boy's voice and frowned, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his orange pants. "Stop getting all cocky. I could kick your ass any day of the week no matter how much you train!"

"Is that so?"

"Duh, of course!"

"You want to test that prediction?" Sasuke came up to walk at his side and put a hand on the blond's shoulder. It made a tiny jolt of electricity jump up Naruto's neck as he remembered how those hands had touched his shoulders the night before. And somewhere within the recesses of his mind, he wondered vaguely where _else_ they could touch him.

He slapped the hand off with a little more force than he'd intended, throwing those thoughts somewhere far away. "Not right now! We're on our way to Tsunade-baba's!"

"She can wait a little. You're not afraid, are you?"

And suddenly, it felt like they were both genin again. He could hear it in Sasuke's voice and see it in his expression, in the familiar smirk that made his lips look thinner than they really were. For a few moments, Naruto felt like he could really fall into that. It would be so easy, to pretend they were rivals again, best friends, tangling on the edge of irresponsibility and raging against each other however they pleased. Back then, it only made them -- and the bond between them -- progressively stronger.

However, looking into the challenging fire of Sasuke's eyes, he saw amongst the well-known arrogance and sparks of annoyance a strange intensity that, for the sake of his own ease if nothing else, he wanted to call excitement instead of desperation.

"No," he replied irritatedly. "You're just trying to start a fight."

"Then why'd you ask?"

Blue eyes narrowed, and a warning growl escaped his throat. "I was just curious, bastard."

Sasuke seemed to consider this, but only for a second or two before deciding that he didn't buy it at all. "Tch, whatever. I don't need you to worry about me, Uzumaki."

"Shut up, asshole," Naruto picked up the pace of his walk again, just noticing that it had slowed down since Sasuke had touched him. It was stupid, he knew, trying to get away from the other boy and how he was right about Naruto being concerned, as he'd just catch up effortlessly, anyway. It didn't make him not want to try. "I can worry about whomever I damn well please."

Sure enough, a pale hand almost immediately planted itself on his shoulder again, gripping this time and pulling him to a dead stop.

"Then why don't you worry about yourself?" Sasuke asked tightly. "You obviously haven't slept either. Care to tell me what the problem was?"

"It's none of your business!" Naruto replied, his voice raising a bit in volume.

"Oh, but somehow I'm _your_ business?" The Uchiha's voice was like a kunai, sharp and intent, with just a hint of restraint. It sounded as though he'd really been agitated about this.

Naruto stood silently for a minute, caught between thinking of a way to get the hand off his shoulder without instigating a physical fight and finding the answer to Sasuke's question that he didn't have. Sasuke was impatient and opted to continue before Naruto could resolve either issue.

"Aren't you being a little hypocritical, _Naruto?_ I'm not just some charity case you can take on because you're bored!"

"Boredom was never the reason! And I've never thought of you as a 'charity case'!"

"Then why? What's in it for you?"

For a moment, Naruto was speechlessly appalled at the other boy's accusation. Was he suggesting that Naruto had some kind of... ulterior motive? He could only gape at Sasuke in disbelief, and duck his head in an effort to restrain his anger.

"You really think... you think that I'd... Gods, Sasuke, how long have we known each other? How could you?" And then he erupted. "How dare you!"

Sasuke had to fight to keep his head from impacting the nearest wall as he found himself immediately slammed up against it. The blond's fists were embedded into the lapel of his shirt, and his expression was one of fury and hurt. It could be seen clearly from Sasuke's spot only inches away.

The dark-haired boy's expression, however, contained only that excited desperation.

Unease began to grow within Naruto's anger, and he could think of nothing to say that would be accurate enough to convey his feelings. They stayed awkwardly like that until Sasuke spoke for him.

"Why are you so afraid of admitting it, Naruto?"

And suddenly, there was a hand on the back of his neck.

"Say it."

Naruto found it incredible that Sasuke could still be demanding while he was pressed against a wall. He replied harshly, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Say that you want to be rivals again."

Naruto tried to jerk away, but the hand on his nape held him fast. If anything, he was pulled minutely closer.

"I want you to be a part of my life again," Sasuke continued, "and I know you want me to be a part of yours." Naruto tried again, but with no success. Sasuke lessened their distance even more, craning his neck down slightly. "That's what you couldn't say last night, isn't it? That's why you're taking me to see that old hag, and you're angry because I'm right. Now say it!"

Naruto couldn't take it anymore, and so he kissed him fiercely, stopping the other boy's mouth from uncovering any more truths he wasn't ready to come to terms with.

Pressed against him, he felt Sasuke finally relax.

* * *

"You're late, brat!" 

Naruto yelped and scampered to dodge the kunai that abruptly implanted itself into the wall. Sasuke watched without surprise. "Only by a couple of minutes! That's no reason to try to cut my head off!"

"Shut up and sit down," Tsunade commanded frustratedly. It was easy to see that she'd been having another bad morning. "And get Uchi-"

Naruto cut her off with a chain of loud, theatrical coughs. When they 'subsided', he cleared his throat and said, "Sorry, Tsunade-baba. Must be the season."

Tsunade looked at him as if to say "what the hell?", but almost immediately disregarded it, remembering Naruto's story from the week before. He had said that Sasuke's surname was what triggered the displaced behavior, right? "Whatever. Just get his scrawny as over here. Anything new you want to tell me?"

"Hm... Yeah, actually. At the Christmas party, it happened again. Well, almost," Naruto started. He watched Sasuke move across the room until he stood at the side of Tsunade's desk. "We were arguing about last week, and I called him by his family name again."

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, who caught his cue to explain.

"I felt like another part of me got angry, and tried to force itself out," the pale-skinned boy told.

Tsunade began poking and prodding in various places on Sasuke's body, checking chakra points for abnormalities. "And did it, then?"

"No. Shikamaru came, and I snapped out of it on my own."

"Hm. Including this incident, I only have one other account of this happening, and that's what Naruto told me about his visit to your residence. Aside from both of them, do you recall this ever happening before?"

Sasuke thought for a moment, before answering a definitive "No."

The blonde woman looked up at the dark-eyed boy and asked levelly, "Is there any possibility that it's an effect of Orochimaru's curse seal?"

Sasuke's teeth ground together briefly. "I doubt it. And if it were, I imagine it would've affected me long before now."

Naruto, taking in the conversation, breathed a sigh of relief. Even if it wasn't for certain, his companion's reply took a silent burden off his shoulders. He'd assumed that Tsunade had read Sasuke's report on Sound, if not been the very first to read it, and if that was the only question she asked related to Orochimaru, then he took it to mean that the snake nin probably hadn't done anything particularly traumatic to his once-best friend during his two and a half year absence.

Sinking down into one of the chairs in front of the desk, he watched as the Hokage placed her hands on either side of Sasuke's head, two fingers lightly touching each of his temples. Green medical chakra began to stir about the appendages, and the dark-haired boy's eyelids fell closed as he relaxed to her touch.

"Your family name is what triggered it in both cases, right?" Tsunade asked, not ceasing her chakra investigation. When Sasuke answered in the affirmative, she continued. "You were very proud of your clan at one time."

"I was," Sasuke replied.

"And are you still?"

Sasuke's head tilted ever so slightly downward. "...No."

"Why not?"

Dark eyebrows furrowed, and at the same time, Tsunade removed her chakra-laced fingers. Sasuke opened his eyes. "I've... been having a dream."

At this, Naruto's ears perked up. The night before, a dream was what made the boy in question nearly strangle him. He'd had a hunch that Sasuke was lying about not remembering it, but hadn't pressed it. He himself had dreams he'd never share with anyone.

But now, in the face of opportunity, he couldn't deny that he was interested.

So when Sasuke's gaze fell hard on him in a manner that could only spell discomfort, he was naturally a little disappointed.

"You... want me to leave," he observed, rising to his feet. After all, he had promised that if there was something that the other boy didn't want to say in front of him, he would go without question.

Charcoal eyes swept back to Tsunade, and before Naruto even got the chance to fully turn around, Sasuke interjected, "You can stay." And then, after several moments of awkward silence as Naruto stared at him in surprise, he continued as if to justify himself, "It's not that it's your business, but after last night you do deserve to hear it."

The blonde boy didn't know what to do. One part of him wanted to disregard his companion's words, since it was obvious he was uncomfortable despite them, but the other part of him wanted to return excitedly to his seat and await Sasuke's words like a child before a storyteller. In the end, he didn't move at all, even as Sasuke began.

"This dream I've been having... It might be a memory, but I can't tell. Since I wasn't sure, I didn't include it in the official report." At this, one of Tsunade's small, blonde eyebrows raised. "It takes place in Hidden Sound, probably only a month or two before I returned to Konoha. I sit under a tree with white flowers, and watch the smoke rising from the pipes. There's more than usual, I think."

Naruto had no idea what "pipes" Sasuke was talking about, but thought better than to interrupt.

"And then suddenly, Itachi shows up. I guess I'd been feeling his presence lurking around for a while, so I wasn't surprised. We fought, and I was still weaker, but at the last minute, I somehow gained the upper hand. He asked if I would renounce my own blood, and I replied that I would renounce his. And then I was about to finally..."

As he trailed off, Tsunade finished for him. "But you didn't. Is that it?"

Sasuke nodded stiffly, his gaze locked firmly to the floor. "I wake up there every time."

* * *

After a few more questions and a basic scan of Sasuke's hippocampus, the Hokage came to a conclusion. 

"I haven't been able to find any trace of foreign chakra within the memory area, so I can tell you that your memories haven't been tampered with by any jutsu. If there's something there that you can't remember, you're blocking it all by yourself."

For a few seconds, Sasuke looked indignant, but Tsunade held up her hand before he could speak.

"There are several reasons and methods that your body could have for doing such a thing, and most of the time, it's completely subconscious. You have no control over it."

"In other words," Sasuke assessed, "it's a defense mechanism."

"Essentially, yes." The blonde woman grabbed a pen and a sheet of clean paper from the stack next to her and began writing. "Your body may be sending this memory to you subconsciously as a way of 'breaking it to you easy,' so to speak, as the event had a profound effect on you when it factually took place."

"How are you so sure it's a memory and not just a dream?" Sasuke asked, his voice opaque and unreadable.

"Well, I can't tell you much," Tsunade offered, "but we did have unconfirmed reports that Itachi was either around or inside Hidden Sound at the time you spoke of, and that he was gone soon after. Given that that information is true, it would be my considered opinion that your dream has more basis than mere fiction."

Signing off the paper, she rolled and sealed it officially before tossing it toward Naruto.

The til-then-ignored teen faltered a little in catching it, mostly due to the unexpectedness of the action. "Me? What're you giving this to me for?"

"You, brat, are to give that to Shizune. She's downstairs running around for me, so you'll pass her on your way out."

Naruto snorted. "So what, I'm your errand boy, now, old lady?" A shuriken whizzed by his head.

"That's the delay order for the reconfiguration of Cell 7. Given the situation, it's too risky right now."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade sighed. She seemed to be getting tired of explaining things, and Naruto could feel her frustration from all the way on the other side of the desk. "Think about it. Sasuke's overlapping of behavioral patterns is triggered by calling him the surname he denounced in an incident his mind won't let him remember. It can't be fixed, predicted, or even studied without first being provoked, which could posssibly be more damaging than letting it run it's natural course anyway. If we were to put him back on the job without knowing the full extent of the behavioral side effects, he could screw up and get himself into big trouble. Trouble enough to have his shinobi title permanently revoked, be labeled a missing nin, or even get himself or you and Sakura killed. And as the leader of this village, I can't allow that."

And that was, quite definitively, that. Even Sasuke, as much as he disliked being called a potential screw up, was forced to remain silent among Godaime's prognosis.

"Sasuke, I want to have an eye on you as much as possible, so that if anything further happens, or the condition gets worse, someone can get you here promptly." The dark-haired ninja nodded, and, as Tsunade looked toward Naruto, the blond came to attention. "Naruto, since you're the only one that knows about this, I want you to be that person. You two should probably consider moving in together for the time being."

At this, Sasuke and Naruto shared a look of apprehension. Naruto was about to protest when Tsunade cut him off abruptly.

"And also, it's very important that word of this doesn't spread. If the higher council were to find out, Sasuke could be put on probation or even under ANBU surveillance. They don't trust my judgment, especially when it comes to a former defective of Konoha and the 'last'... of that clan."

* * *

tbc! 

See? I told you all it sucked. I can't believe I made you wait 7 months for this. _-shame-_


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